IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


If  1^  m 


1.8 


L25  II  _U   ii.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  M580 

(716)  872-4503 


J 


t/u 


'/.. 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  tachniquas  at  bibliographiquas 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  tha 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


n 
a 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertura  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couvertura  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restauria  et/ou  pelliculie 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Letit 


itre  de  couverture  manque 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  giographiques  en  couieur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  blaue  ou  noirel 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  causa  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  itait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  iti  filmdes. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  etA  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-^tre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

r^    Pages  damaged/ 


D 


n 


Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculies 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachet^es  ou  piquees 


□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachees 

aShowthrough/ 
Transparence 

nn    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Qualiti  intgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  c  rata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Las  pages  totalement  ou  partieltement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  cnt  6t6  filmies  A  nouveau  de  facon  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


The 
to  tl 


The 

P08l 
Of  tl 

film 


OriG 

beg 

the 

sior 

othi 

first 

sior 

or  il 


The 
shal 
TIN 
whi 

Mat 

dlff( 

ent 

beg 

righ 

reqi 

met 


m 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


Wrinkled  pages  may  film  slightly  out  of  focus. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  fUmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


J 


] 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


mmw 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 


L'exemplaire  iWmi  fut  reproduit  grflce  d  la 
ginirositi  de: 


University  de  Montreal 


University  de  Montreal 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END  "), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimie  sont  film6s  en  commengant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmfo  en  commen9ant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  film6  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

AUT 


THE 


CATHOLIC    CHURCH 


IN  THE 


UNITED  STATES: 


PAaES     OF     ITS     HISTORY. 


BY 

HENRY  DE  COURCY, 

AUTHOR  OK  "  LK8  8EKV ANTES  DE  DIEU  EN  CANADA,"  ETC. 


TUAN8LATED   AND    ENLARGED 

By     JOHN     GIL  MARY     SHEA, 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  "  DISCOVEKY  AND   EXPLOKATION   OF    "HE   MISSISSIPPI,"    "  HISTORT 

OF  THE  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS,"  ETC.,  AND  MEMBER  OF  THE  N.  Y.,  MASS., 

MARYLAND,  AND  WISC.  HISTORICAL  SOCIETIES. 


SECOND   EDITION,    REVISED. 


NEW  YORK: 

EDWARD   DUNIGAN  AND   BROTHER, 

(JAMES    B.    KIRKER,) 

151  FULTON  STREET. 
1867. 


Blbliotheijue  des  bvf'Hnanstes 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866, 

By  JAME3  B.  KIBEEB, 

In  the  Clent'a  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


B.  0.  VALENnME, 

BTIBBOTTFKR  AND  XLECTROTTFIST, 
IT  Datch-tt,  cor.  Fulton,  N.  Y. 


■f 


them 


TO 

'    »f»   BpceUencj), 
THE   MOST   REV.   CAJETAN   BEDINI, 

ARCHBISHOP      OF     THEBES, 
NUNCIO    APOSTOLIC, 

€{113  Unlunu  10  EfspntftiUii  Dfitirntri; 

BY 

THE  AUTHOR  AND  TRANSLATOR. 


■f 


Itaqne  etiam  non  assccutis,  voluisse  abunde  pulchrum  est,  atqiie 
magiiificum  :  nee  dubitamus  multa  esse  quae  nos  prictenermt.  Homi- 
nes enim  siimus. — Pliny. 


' 


PREFACE 


TO   THE    SECOND    EDITION, 


itque 
[omi- 


"  The  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States"  being,  as  stated 
in  the  former  preface,  "a  contribution  to  the  History  of  the 
Church  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  Middle  States,"  was  writ- 
ten originally  in  French,  for  the  Ami  de  la  Religion  and  the 
Univers. 

Although  bearing  more  especially  on  the  French  element,  and, 
in  some  instances,  advancing  opinions  that  may  be  questioned, 
yet,  as  coming  from  a  man  of  integrity,  pit  ty,  and  ability,  the 
sketches  were,  I  thought,  worth  presenting  to  my  fellow  Catho- 
lics in  the  United  States,  and  I  still  adhere  to  my  original  appre- 
ciation of  the  work. 

The  following  translation  appeared  first  in  the  columns  of  the 
Leader^  and,  during  its  publication,  elicited  the  highest  commen- 
dation from  the  Catholic  clergy  and  the  Catholic  press,  many 
portions  being  freely  copied.  Mr.  De  Courcy,  in  the  Leader^ 
constantly  requested  correction  or  further  information,  and,  before 
its  publication  in  book-form,  submitted  the  portion  relating  to 
each  diocese  to  persons  whose  rank  in  the  Church  would  com- 
mand respect,  did  I  suppose  it  proper  to  name  them. 

The  first  edition  was  in  general  well  received,  and  it  was  with 
no  little  amazement  that  I  found  one  or  two  periodicals  disposed 
to  make  it  a  ground  for  assailing  the  author's  private  character, 


PREFACE. 


liis  motives,  and  liis  lionesty.  Tliesc  vngiie  charges,  launched 
fortli  in  accents  of  passion  and  wrath,  so  evidently  betray  their 
source,  that  it  would  bo  folly  to  regard  them. 

The  accuracy  of  the  work  is  admitted,  for  in  all  the  lengthy 
and  repeated  remarks  of  these  critics,  they  point  out  but  one 
error  of  judgment,  one  important  omission,  and  a  few  typographi- 
cal errors.  More  than  these  the  Christian-hearted  reader  will  be 
inclined  to  excuse  in  an  author  whose  shattered  health  compelled 
him  to  suspend  his  work,  and  seek  a  more  genial  climate. 

As  a  friend  of  his,  I  concluded  the  sketches  of  New  York, 
having  written  almost  all  that  does  not  refer  to  the  French  ele- 
ment, and  I  did  expect  censure,  rather  on  my  additions,  than 
the  amiable  author's  work  or  person. 

The  want  of  a  new  edition  has  left  me  but  httle  time  to  cor- 
rect many  little  inaccuracies,  but  I  have  supplied  an  omitted 
account  of  Mount  St.  Mary's. 

To  such  as  think  that  too  little  space  is  given  to  Maryland,  I 
would  state  that  the  author  deferred  entering  more  fully  into  its 
Catholic  history,  inasmuch  as  he  was  aware  that  the  Rev.  Charles 
I.  White,  D.  D.,  is  engaged  on  a  work  which  he  is,  perhaps,  the 
only  one  competent  in  the  country  to  give  us — a  History  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Maryland  from  the  earliest  times. 

John  Gilmary  Shea. 
Nbw  York,  October  17.  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


\ 


DXDIOATION PAOI     111 

FRirAOB ▼ 

CnArTER  I. — The  Early  Indian  Missions, 

Misitons  of  the  Norwegians  In  tlie  nnte-Columblnn  times— Spanish  missions  In  Florida, 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  Calirornia— French  missions  among  the  Indians  In  Maine, 
New  York,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 11 

Chap.  II. — ^Tiie  Colonial  Church. 

Maryland— Settled  by  Catholics— Their  persecution — Thoir  emancipation— From  the 
year  1634  to  17T4. 22 

Chap.  III. — The  Chcrch  in  the  Republic. 

Maryland— Father  John  Carroll — How  the  United  States  granted  liberty  of  conscience 
to  the  Catholics- Mission  of  Father  Carroll  to  Canada 36 

Chap.  IV. — The  Church  during  the  Revolution. 
Father  Carroll  and  Father  Floquet— Father  Carroll  at  Rock  Creek 47 

Chap.  V. — The  Church  in  the  Republic. 
Maryland  (1776-1790)— Negotiations  for  the  erection  of  an  Episcopal  See 54 

CiiAP.  VI. — Diocese  of  BALTiMoaK, 

Consecration  of  Bishop  Carroll— J«sult  College  at  Georgetown— Sulpltian  Seminary  at 
Baltimore — ^The  French  clergy  in  the  United  States — Bishop  Neale  coa(yutor— Reor- 
ganization of  the  Society  of  Jesus — Importance  of  French  immigration 63 

Chap.  VII. — ^The  Church  in  Maryland. 

The  Carmelites — Poor  Clares— Visitation  nuns— Sisters  of  Charity— Baltimore  an  eccle- 
siastical province  with  four  suffragans— Death  of  Archbishop  Carroll 76 

Chap.  VIII.— Diocese  of  Baltimore.     (1815-1828.) 

Most  Rov.  Leonard  N«ale,  second  Archbishop— Most  Rev.  Ambrose  Mar6chal,  fhird 
Archbishop— Difficulties  of  his  administration— Progress  of  Catholicity— Bishops  ap- 
pointed for  New  Orleans,  Charleston,  Richmond,  and  Cincinnati — Labors  of  the  Sul- 
pitians — Death  of  Archbishop  Mar6chal 08 


CONTENTS. 


Chap.  IX. — Dioiehe  ok  Haltimoue.    (18*28-1 920.) 

Moat  Rev.  JaniM  'Whltflcld,  fourth  Archbishop  of  Rnltliiioro— The  OblntM  of  St.  FrnncM 
ftnd  the  colored  Catholics— The  A^Rociatioii  for  the  Propngiition  of  the  Faith  and  the 
Leopoldlne  Socloty— First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltlinori',  and  a  lutrospcct  on  pro- 
vlona  synods  of  tho  clergy 118 

Chap.  X. — Diockhe  ok    Baltimork.    (1829-1834.) 

Becond  Provincial  Conncll— Decrees  as  to  tho  election  of  Mshops— Decrees  for  confldlntf 
to  the  Jesuits  tho  Negroes  an<l  Indians— Tho  colony  of  Liberia  and  Bishop  Barron — 
The  CarmellteB— Liberality  of  Archbishop  Whltflcld— Ills  character  and  death...  ViQ 

Chap.  XI. — Diocese  ok  Baltimore.    (1834-1840.) 

Most  Rev.  Samuel  Ecclcston,  D.  D.,  fifth  Archbishop  of  Baltimore— The  Brothers  of  tho 
Christian  Schools— The  Redemptorlsts— The  German  Catholics— The  Lazarl.Hs— Third 
Council  of  Baltimore— New  Episcopal  Sees— Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore— Bishop 
Forbln-Janson  in  America— I'loceses  of  Ulchmond  and  Wheeling,  and  a  glance  at  re- 
ligion in  Virginia 145 

CiiAP.  XII. — Diocese  ok  Baltimore.     (1840-1846.) 

Decrees  as  to  ecclesiastical  property— Fifth  Council  of  Baltimore— Decrees  against  di- 
vorce and  mixed  marriages— Subdivision  of  tho  dioceses— Sixth  Council  of  Baltimore 
— Decree  as  to  the  Immaculate  Conception- Labors  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  tho 
United  States 170 

Chap.  XIII. — Diocese  ok  Baltimore.    (1846-1852.) 

Election  of  Plus  IX.— Popularity  of  the  Sovereign  Tontltf  In  the  United  States— Peter's 
Pence— Seventh  Council  of  Baltimore— Division  of  the  United  States  Into  six  ecclesi- 
astical provinces— Death  of  Archbishop  Eccloston— Most  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenriclc, 
sixth  Archbishop  of  Baltimore— National  Council  of  Baltimore  and  new  Episcopal 
Beea. 190 


Chap.  XIV.— Pennsylvania.    (1680-1810.) 

First  missions  at  Philadelphia,  Goshonhoppen,  Conewago,  Lancaster  —  Influence  of 
French  intervention  in  securing  respect  and  toleration  for  Catholicity— The  Augm- 
tinians  in  Pennsylvania— The  Franciscans— Schism  in  the  German  Church  of  tha 
Holy  Trinity— Foundation  of  the  episcopal  See  of  Philadelphia 207 


C( 


Chap.  XV. — Diocese  of  PiiiLADELrniA.     (1810-1834.) 

The  RL  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  first  bishop— Very  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth,  administrator— 
Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  second  bishop -Schism  of  St,  Mary's  Church— Very  Rev, 
William  Mathews,  administrator— Rt  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenriclc,  coadjutor,  then  third 
bishop— Religious  condition  of  the  diocese  in  1834 S22i 

Chap.  XVI. — Diocese  or  Philadelphia.     (1833-1844.) 

Commencement  and  progress  of  the  anti-CathoUc  agitation— Various  manceuvres  of  the 
fanatics— Tho  Native  party- The  Philadelphia  riots 240 


Fa 


Rig 


A 


CONTKNTS. 


ClIAP.   XV'II.— DlOCK.SK   OK    I'lllLAKKI.PIIlA.      (1811-lHftB.) 

Division  of  tlio  (llocoso— Stiito  of  Dclnwarr— The  Lnillos  of  tlio  Riiired  lloftrt— The  Sin- 
ters of  this  VUltfttlon— Tli(>  SlMtcrs  of  Notre  Diiiiu'— ''"uthrr  Vir^'ll  Ilnrbcr  niid  hU 
fftinlly— Works  nf  lilHhop  l<\  l*.  Kciirlck— lilt  trnii^^liitloti  to  tlw  iiictropolltun  See  of 
Bttltttnoro— Ut  Ilov.  John  N.  Nuuiimtiii,  fourth  Dishop  of  l>lilliiilul|ilila. 259 

ClIAI'.    XVril.— rENNHVr.VANIA.      (1750-1840.) 

HJoccso  of  Plltaburc— The  Recollects  at  Fort  Dufiue^no— The  Rev.  Fatlur  nrntiern— 
Sketch  of  Prince  Doinetrlus  Oallitzln 'iVi 

CitAP,  XIX. — Diocese  op  PiTTHBuaa — Diocesk  or  Eiiie.     (179'2-18.')<V) 

The  Abb6  Flagot  at  Plttsbiiri;— The  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  nml  CliRrlos  R.  Mutfiilre— Tlio 
Poor  Clares— The  Colony  of  Asylum— The  Chevalier  John  Keating'— Colony  of  lliir- 
man  Bottom— Episcopate  of  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connor— HUiers  of  Mcrey— Tho 
Brothers  of  the  Presentation— The  Franciscan  Brothers — The  Benedlctliu'!*— Pas.slon- 
Isls— Early  missions  at  Erie- Bishop  Flaget— The  present  state  of  the  dloccso— Tho 
Benedictine  nuns— Retrospect 2S3 

Chap.  XX.— State  ok  New  Youk.     (Ifi42-1708.) 

Missions  among  the  Iroquois — Father  Joguos — Father  Brcs-sanl— Father  Lo  Moyne— 
Emigration  uf  CliriiitianB  to  Canada— Close  of  tlio  Jesuit  missions  In  New  York..  814 

Chap.  XXI.— Diocese  of  New  York.     (1640-17GO.) 

Tho  Dutch— Tho  English  occupation  and  Oovernor  Dongan— First  Ctdonlal  Assembly 
in  1688— Jesuits  at  Now  York— Kovolutlon,  and  persecution  of  the  Calhollc3— Pro- 
tended  negro  plot,  and  execution  of  the  Rev.  John  Ury 3.34 


fee  of 
[ugiw- 
>f  tba 
2U7 


ator— 
Rev. 
third 

..  22i 


.  of  the 
240 


Chap.  XXII.— .State  ok  New  Yokk.     (1776-1786.) 

Constitution  of  the  State— The  English  Party  and  Protestantism— Commencement  of 
Catholic  worship  in  the  city  of  New  York— St.  Peter's  Church— Father  Wlielan  and 
Father  Nugent— A  trustee  of  St.  Peter's  in  1780 815 

Chap.  XXIII. — State  and  Diocese  of  New  Yokk.     (1787-1813.) 

Father  O'Brien  and  the  yellow  fever  In  New  York— The  negro,  Peter  Toussaint— Tho 
Abbe  Sibourg — Fathers  Kohlmann  and  Fonwick — Erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at 
New  York— Rt.  Rev.  Luke  Concanen,  first  bishop— His  death  at  Naples— Father 
Benedict  Fenwick,  administrator — The  Now  York  Literary  Institution— Father  Fen- 
wick  and  Thomas  Paine — Father  Kohlmann  anil  tho  secrecy  of  the  confessional. .  855 

Chap.  XXIV.— Diocese  of  New  York.     (1815-1842.) 

Right  Rev.  John  Connolly,  second  Bishop  of  New  York— Condition  of  the  diocese— 
Sketch  of  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Malou— Bishop  Connolly's  first  acts— His  clergy— The  Rev. 
Mr.  Taylor,  and  his  ambitious  designs— Con vei*slons— The  Rev.  John  Richard— Spread 

1* 


-TSP" 


10 


CONTENTS. 


of  Catholicity— Death  of  Bishop  Connolly— Very  Kev.  -Tohn  Power,  Adminlstrntor— 
Right  Kov.  John  Dubois,  third  Bishop  of  Now  York — Yisilntion  of  his  dioct'se— His 
labors  for  the  cause  of  education— Controversies  with  the  Protestants— Very  Rev. 
Foiix  Varola— Kev.  Thomas  C.  Levins— Difllcalties  with  trustees- German  immiprn- 
tlon — Conversion  of  Kev.  Maximilian  CErtel— Appointment  of  a  Coadjutor — Death  of 
Bisliop  Dubois 8S3 


Chap.  XXY.— Diockbe  ok  Nkw  York.     (1838-1856.) 

Eight  Kov.  John  Hughes,  Ooadjr.tor  and  then  Bishop  of  New  York — Tic  overthrows 
tnisteeism— The  sciio  1  question — Bishop  Hughes  before  the  Common  Counoil— St. 
John's  College — The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Madame  Gallitzin— The  Rc- 
demptorists — Tiie  Tractarian  movement,  and  the  conversions  resulting  from  it — 
Tlie  Trench  Church  and  the  Bisliop  of  Nancy— Appointment  of  Uiglit  Kev.  John 
McCloskey  as  Coadjutor— The  Sisters  of  Mercy- Keorganlzalion  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity — Division  of  the  diocese — Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools — Progress  of 
Catholicity  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese — New  York  erected  into  an  archicplscopal 
See — Erection  of  the  Sees  of  Brooklyn  and  New  irk— First  Provincial  Council  of  New 
York — The  Church  Property  Bill  and  the  discnssion  with  Senator  Brooks-Kct- 
rospoct 410 


i 


Chap.  XXVI. — Dioceses  of  Albany,  Buffalo,  Buooklvn,  and  Nkwark. 

Diocese  of  Albany — Early  Catholic  afTairs- Church  and  Mission  of  the  Presentation  at 
Ogdensburg — St.  Regis — Chaplains  at  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point — Rev.  Mr.  de  la 
Valinl6re  and  his  church  on  Lake  Champlain — Church  at  Albany— Early  pastors— 
Increiuse  of  Catholicity — Appointment  of  Kt.  Kev.  John  McCloskey  as  flrst  bishop — 
His  administration— Instltntions— Religious  Orders— Jesuits — Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart — Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools. 

Diocese  of  Buffalo — French  chaplains  at  Fort  Niagara— Early  Catholic  matters— A[)- 
polntment  of  tho  Rt.  Kev.  John  Timon  as  bisliop — Tlie  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Fran- 
ciscans, Christian  Brothers,  and  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart— Sisters  of  Ciiarity,  Sis- 
ters of  St.  Joseph,  Sisters  of  St.  Bridget  and  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity— State  of  tlio 
diocese. 

Diocese  of  Brooklyn— Catholicity  on  Long  Island— First  church  In  Brooklyn— Progress 
— Rt.  Kev.  John  Loughlln  flrst  bishop— Visitation  Nuns— Sisters  of  Charity— Sisters 
of  Mercy— Dominican  Sisters. 

Diocese  of  Newark — Catholicity  in  New  Jersey — Its  progress — Appointment  of  Rt.  Rev. 
James  R.  Bayley,  flrst  bishop— Seton  Hall 451 


.1! 


CiiAP.  XXVII.     (1853,  1854.) 

Mission  of  tho  Nuncio,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Bedinl— His  arrival—Plot  of  tho 
Italians — Their  slanders  —  Refutation— Death  of  Sassi — Reaction — Violence  of  the 
Germans— Result  of  his  mission 499 

« 

Chap.  XXVIII.     (1854-1856.) 

Reaction  against  the  Catholics — Organization  of  the  Know-Nothings 52t 

Conclusion 681 

APPENDIX. , 589 


n 

II 
t\ 

tl 

ei 
it 
hi 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE    EARLV    INDIAN    MISSIONS. 


52f 

.  681 

580 


Missions  of  the  Norwegians  in  the  ante-Colnmbian  times — Spanish  missions  in  Florida, 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  CaHfornia— French  missions  among  the  Indians  in  Maine, 
New  York,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  tlie  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  missionary  spirit  is  inherent  in  the  CathoUc  Church,  and  it 
dates  from  the  moment  when  our  Lord  said  to  his  apostles,  "Go 
and  teach  all  nations."  Before  St.  Paul  had  left  Asia  Minor, 
missionaries  had  already  penetrated  to  Italy  and  Spain,  and  from 
their  day  to  our  own,  each  succeeding  age  has  produced  her 
heroes,  devoting  their  lives  to  the  greatest  of  human  entei"prises 
— the  conversion  of  souls.  When  the  still  pagan  Nor  thmen  dis- 
covered Iceland  in  the  eighth  century  of  our  present  era,  they 
found  on  the  shore  crosses,  bells,  and  sacred  vessels  of  Irish  work- 
manship. The  island  had  therefore  been  visited  by  Cathoho 
missionaries,  and  the  Irish  clergy  may  with  justice  lay  claim  to 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

The  Northmen,  after  founding  a  colony  in  Iceland,  pushed 
their  discovery  westward,  and  soon  discovered  a  part  of  the  west- 
ern continent,  to  which,  from  the  agreeable  verdure  with  which 
it  was  covered,  they  gave  the  name  of  Greenland.  When  these 
hardy  explorers  returned  to  Norway,  they  found  the  idols  of 


IpBP 


-_?.i«j' — n 


_i^ JU. . 


rtut- 


12 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


n 


:m 


I! 


Scandinavia  hurled  to  the  dust.  The  kino-  had  embraced  tlia 
true  faith,  and  the  whole  people  had  renounced  paganism.  A 
missionary  set  snil  in  the  first  vessel  that  steered  towards  the  new- 
found land,  and  ere  long  the  little  colony  was  Catholic.  Iceland 
and  Greenland  soon  had  their  chiu-ches,  their  convents,  their 
bishops,  their  colleges,  their  libraries,  their  apostolic  men.  The 
explorers  Beorn  and  Leif  having  coasted  southerly  along  the 
Atlantic  shore  towards  the  bays  where  the  countless  spires  of  Bos- 
ton and  New  York  now  tower,  missionaries  immediately  offered 
to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  savage  nations  of  the  South ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  in  1120  Bishop  Eric  visited  in  person  Vin- 
land,  or  the  land  of  vines.  The  colonies  of  the  Northmen  on  the 
west  coast  of  Greenland  continued  to  flourish  till  1406,  when 
the  seventeenth  and  last  Bishop  of  Garda  was  sent  from  Norway : 
those  on  the  eastern  coast  subsisted  till  1540,  when  they  were 
destroyed  by  a  physical  r'^volution  which  accumulated  the  ice  in 
that  zone  from  the  60th  degree  of  latitude.  Thus,  a  focus  of 
Christianity  not  only  long  existed  in  Greenland,  but  from  it  rays 
of  faith  momentarily  illumined  part  of  the  territory  now  em- 
braced in  the  United  States,  to  leave  it  sunk  in  darkness  for  some 
centuries  more. 

But  the  great  Columbus,  by  discovering  another  part  of 
America,  soon  drew  the  attention  of  Europe  to  the  New  World, 
and  the  navigators  of  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  and  England  ex- 
plored it  in  every  direction.  All  were  animated  by  the  same 
spirit,  and,  despite  national  jealousy,  actuated  by  the  same  motive. 
The  adventurer,  the  soldier,  and  the  pi-iest  always  landed  together ; 
and  the  proclamation  made  to  the  natives  by  the  Spaniards  bears 
these  remarkable  words:  "  The  Church :  the  Queen  and  Sovereign 
of  the  World."  Tho  Protestant  citizens  of  the  United  States 
boast  of  the  Puritan  settlement  in  New  England  as  the  cradle 
of  their  race :  but  long  before  these  separatists  landed  at  Plymouth 
in  1620,  and  while  the  English  settlers  hugged  the  Atlantic  shore, 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


13 


of 


too  indifterent  to  instruct  in  Christianity  the  Indians  whose  hunt- 
ing grounds  they  had  usurped,  other  portions  of  the  continent, 
and  even  of  our  territory,  were  evangelized  from  north  to  south 
and  from  east  to  west.  These  missions  are  divided  into  three 
very  distinct  classes :  the  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  and  Jesuits  oi 
Spain  share  between  them  the  south  from  Florida  to  California ; 
the  Recollects  and  Jesuits  of  France  traverse  the  country  in  every 
direction  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Hudson's  Bay ;  and 
finally,  the  English  Jesuits  plant  the  Cross  for  a  time  amid  the 
ti'ibes  of  Maryland,  during  the  short  period  of  Catholic  supremacy 
in  that  colony. 

The  Spaniards  were  the  first  to  preacli  the  gospel  in  the  terri- 
tory now  actually  comprised  in  the  United  States.  Sebastian 
Cabot  had,  indeed,  under  the  flag  of  England,  explored  the  At- 
lantic shore  in  1497,  but  Ponce  de  Leon  was  the  first  to  land 
with  a  view  of  conquest.  From  1512,  the  date  of  the  discovery 
of  Florida,  numerous  expeditions  succeeded  one  another,  and  all 
were  attended  by  missionaries  ;  but  the  savage  inhabitants  oifered 
their  invaders  a  more  effectual  resistance  than  the  natives  of  Ilis- 
j)aniola  or  the  sovereigns  of  Mexico.  In  Florida  the  Spaniards 
met  disaster  after  disaster,  and  from  1512  to  1542,  Leon,  Cor- 
dova, Ayllon,  Narvaez,  and  Soto,  successively,  with  most  of  their 
forces,  perished  in  Florida  or  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Of 
the  expedition  of  Narvaez,  Cab(>za  de  Vaca  escaped  almost  alone, 
and  after  almost  incredible  hardship  and  danger,  pushed  through 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  thus  acquiring  the 
glory  of  having  first  traversed  North  America  from  east  to  west. 
He  was  hospitably  received  by  the  Spaniards  of  Mexico  at  their 
outposts  in  Sonora,  and  there  his  account  inflamed  the  zeal  of 
Friar  Mark,  of  Nice,  who  in  1539  resolved  to  bear  the  Cross  to 
the  inland  tribes.  His  religious  enterprise  failed,  but  his  attempt 
remains  as  the  hardiest  exploration  yet  attempted  of  unknown 


M-imui^^ 


u 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


regions.  In  1542  another  expedition  left  Mexico,  commandod  by 
Coronado,  and  turned  towards  the  northeast.  After  leaching  the 
head-waters  of  the  Arkansas,  he  turned  back  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
in  the  present  diocese  of  Santa  Fe.  Here  the  commander  re- 
solved to  return  to  Mexico,  but  such  wfis  not  the  idea  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan missionaries  in  his  party.  They  had  come  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  and  would  not  retreat  from  the  field  they  had  chosen. 
They  accordingly  allowed  their  companions  to  depart,  and  while 
Coronado  and  his  soldiers  resumed  the  route  to  Mexico,  Father 
Padilla  and  Brother  John  of  the  Cross  prostrated  themselves  to 
offer  humbly  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  their  lives  for  the  salvation  of 
the  Indians.  Their  oft'er  was  accepted,  and  while  on  their  way  to 
the  town  of  Quivira,  they  were  both  pierced  with  arrows,  victims 
of  their  charitable  devotedness.  Such  are  the  first  martyrs  of  the 
Church  in  the  United  States,  and  their  death  is  only  fifty  years 
subsequent  to  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  by  Columbus. 

After  an  interval  of  forty  years,  the  Franciscans  penetrated  into 
New  Mexico,  which  now  forms  the  diocese  of  Santa  F6.  Many 
sank  beneath  the  Indian  torture,  but  their  places  were  filled  up  by 
new  missionaries,  and  their  labors  resulted  in  the  conveision  of 
wliole  tribes.  Before  the  English  had  formed  a  single  settlement, 
either  in  Virginia  or  New  England,  all  the  tribes  on  the  Rio 
Grande  were  converted  and  civilized ;  their  towns,  still  remarkable 
for  their  peculiar  structure,  were  decorated  with  chui'ches  and 
public  edifices,  which  superficial  travellers  in  our  day  ascribe  to 
the  everlasting  Aztecs.  In  the  next  century  the  incursions  of  tlie 
fierce  nations  of  the  plains,  the  wild  Apache  and  the  daring  Na 
vajo,  destroyed  most  of  these  towns :  the  weakness  of  the  Spanish 
government  allowed  the  ruins  to  extend ;  but  the  inhabitants  are 
still  Catholic,  and  are  now  the  object  of  a  spiiitual  regeneration. 
New  Mexico  having  been  conquered  by  the  United  States  in 
1845,  the  Holy  See  was  enabled  to  exercise  jurisdiction  without 
emban'assment ;  and  a  bishop — the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Lamy,  a  French- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


15 


I 


man  by  birth — aided  by  several  clergymen  of  his  own  laud,  gov- 
erns the  diocese  of  Santa  Fe,  where  he  has  already  revived  the 
faith,  restored  discipline,  and  repaired  many  of  the  devastations 
of  years. 

While  the  children  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  were  thus  in  the 
sixteenth  century  carrying  on  the  spiritual  conquest  of  New  Mex- 
ico, the  Dominicans  pursued  their  missions  in  Florida,  though  not 
without  constant  persecution.  They  first  call  to  their  aid  the 
Jesuits,  then  yield  the  field  to  the  Franciscans,  and  these  three 
religious  orders  bedew  with  their  purest  blood  the  country  now 
embraced  in  the  dioceses  of  Savannah  and  Mobile.  At  last  the 
ardent  zeal  of  several  generations  of  martyrs  receives  its  recom- 
pense, and  the  natives  of  Florida  embraced  Christianity.  Villages 
of  neophytes  gathered  around  the  Spanish  posts.  Devotional 
works  were  translated  and  printed  in  the  Mobilian  dialects,  and 
the  Doctrina  Cristiana  of  Pareja,  in  Timuquana,  is  the  oldest 
published  work  in  any  dialect  of  the  natives  of  the  United  States. 
The  convent  of  St.  Helena,  in  the  city  of  St.  Augustine,  became 
the  centre  whence  the  Franciscans  spread  in  every  direction,  even 
to  the  extremities  of  the  peninsula  and  among  the  Appalachian 
clans.  The  faith  prospered  among  these  tribes,  and  the  cross 
towered  in  every  Indian  village,  till  the  increasing  English  colony 
of  Carolina  brought  war  into  these  peaceful  realms.  In  1*703  the 
valley  of  the  Appalachicola  was  ravaged  by  an  armed  body  of  cov- 
etous fanatics ;  the  Indian  towns  were  destroyed ;  the  missiona- 
ries slaughtered,  and  their  forest  children,  their  neophytes,  sharing 
their  fate,  or,  still  more  unfortunate,  being  hurried  away  and  sold 
as  slaves  in  the  English  West  Indies.  Fifty  years  after,  the  whole 
colony  of  Florida  fell  into  the  hands  of  England :  the  missions 
were  destroyed,  the  Indians  dispersed,  and  St.  Helena,  the  con- 
vent whence  Christianity  had  radiated  over  the  peninsula,  became 
a  barrack,  and  such  is  that  venerable  monastery  in  our  own  days. 
Driven  from  their  villages  and  fields,  which  the  English  seized, 


16 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I 


the  unhappy  Floridians  were  forced  to  wander  in  the  wilderness 
and  resume  the  nomadic  Hfe  of  barbarism,  from  which  Christi- 
anity had  reclaimed  them.  Buried  in  their  pathless  everglades, 
without  spiritual  guides,  they  took  the  name  of  Seminoles,  which 
in  their  own  language  means  Wanderers^  and  have  gradually  lost 
the  faith,  and  have  become  the  scourge  of  the  whites.  In  vain 
have  the  English  and  our  government  since,  by  long  and  expen- 
sive wars,  endeavored  to  expel  them.  Under  Jackson's  policy, 
the  government  attempted  to  deport  them  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
as  well  as  most  of  the  other  tribes  ;  but  the  Seminoles,  so  gentle 
imder  the  paternal  care  of  the  Franciscans,  had  become  ungovern- 
able when  their  uncultivated  nature  was  no  longer  under  the 
check  of  religion.  The  Florida  war,  which  cost  the  United  States 
twenty  thousand  men  and  forty  million  dollars,  and  lasted  from 
1835  to  1842,  produced  no  result.  The  Seminoles  do  not  num- 
ber over  a  thousand,  yet  diplomacy  and  force,  promises  and 
threats,  alike  fail  to  draw  them  from  their  native  land.  Their  chief- 
tain, Billy  Bowlegs,  is  the  terror  of  the  frontier,  and  the  Ameri- 
can people  held  in  check  by  a  handful  of  Indians  will  thus  long 
atone  for  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers.  But  the  restoration  of  the 
Catholic  missions,  which  began  with  the  peace  of  Europe  in  1814, 
and  to  the  success  of  which  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  has  so  powerfully  contributed,  has  been  felt  in  Florida 
as  in  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  Bishop  of  Mobile  is  a  native  of 
France,  and  the  mission  of  St.  Augustine  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Fathers  of  Mercy,  of  whom  Father  Rauzan  was  the  venerable 
founder. 

California,  which  now  forms  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  San 
Francisco,  was  also  evangelized  in  the  time  of  the  Spaniards :  the 
flourishing  missions  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  peninsula  of  California 
do  not,  however,  fall  within  our  limits,  as  they  existed  on  a  terri- 
tory still  subject  to  Mexico. 

Upper  California,  conquered  by  the  United  States  in  1845,  wat 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


17 


visited  by  the  Franciscans  in  1768 ;  and  from  that  dftte  down  to 
1822  they  founded  along  the  coast  twenty-one  missions,  the  chief 
of  which  Avere  San  Diego,  Monterey,  and  San  Francisco.  In 
these  missions  the  Fathers  directed  seventy-five  thousand  con- 
verted Indians,  providing  for  their  clothing,  food,  and  instruction. 
But  in  1825,  in  consequence  of  the  revolution  by  which  Mexico 
was  severed  from  the  mother  country,  the  Spanish  missionaries 
were  diiven  from  California,  and  the  Catholic  Indians  were  de- 
pnved  of  most  of  their  pastors. 

The  same  result  took  place  in  Texas,  where  the  Franciscans 
announced  the  Gospel  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
where  their  noble  foundations,  the  missions  of  San  Antonio,  San 
Francisco,  and  a  host  of  others,  among  the  Adayes,  the  Cenis,  the 
Tejas,  the  Aes,  after  having  been  levelled  by  wars  and  revolutions, 
and  watered  with  the  blood  of  martyrs  down  to  the  present  cen- 
tury, have  begun  to  revive  since  the  erection  of  Texas  into  a  Vica- 
riate Apostolic  in  1842,  and  the  subsequent  establishment  of  the 
Episcopal  See  of  Galveston,  over  which  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Odin 
presides. 

Such  is  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  former  missions  in  the  countries 
subject  to  the  Spanish  crown.  The  southern  part  of  the  United 
States  was  the  theatre  of  these  holy  attempts ;  and  we  must  now 
pass  to  the  North  to  describe  those  to  which  the  Jesuits  and 
Recollects  of  France  devoted  their  lives  with  such  heroic  zeal. 
Canada  had  been  known  since  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  and  at- 
tempts at  colonization  had  been  made  under  Henry  III. ;  but  it 
was  only  under  Henry  IV.  that  permanent  settlements  were 
formed  in  North  America,  at  Quebec  and  Port  Royal.  Then  the 
ladies  of  the  Court,  encouraged  by  Father  Coton,  became  mer- 
chants and  ship-owners  in  order  to  enable  the  missionaries  se- 
lected to  reach  those  distant  shores.  The  Marchioness  de 
Guercheville,  who  had  declared  herself  protectress  of  the  Indiana 
of  New  France,  devoted  her  fortune  to  the  work  of  colonization  ; 


wm 


18 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


and  two  Jesuits,  after  a  short  stay  in  Acadia,  whence  t\iey  were 
driven  by  persecution,  founded  in  1612  the  Mission  of  St.  Saviour, 
on  Mount  Desert  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  in  the  present 
diocese  of  Portland.  Thus  at  the  North,  no  less  than  at  the 
South,  Catholicity  had  taken  possession  of  the  American  soil  be- 
fore the  Puritans  had  given  Protestantism  a  home  at  Boston. 
England  then  possessed  only  a  few  scattered  houses  in  Virginia, 
whose  inmates  sent  a  fleet  of  fishing  craft  each  year  to  Newfound- 
laud.  As  this  fleet,  escorted  by  the  infamous  Argal,  approached 
St.  Saviour's  and  heard  of  its  existence,  they  resolved  lo  attack 
the  settlement.  One  of  the  missionaries  was  mortally  wounded 
by  the  invaders,  his  companions  carried  off  as  prisoners,  and  the 
seeds  of  the  faith  which  Father  Biard  had  planted  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Indians  were  to  germ  only  in  happier  times. 

This  harvest  waited  till  .1646.  At  that  time  a  converted  Al- 
gonquin from  Canada  having  visited  the  Abenakis,  a  tribe  occu- 
pying the  present  State  of  Maine,  these  latter  suddenly  found 
themselves  touched  by  grace,  and  a  deputation  of  their  principal 
chiefs  set  out  for  Quebec  to  beg  most  earnestly  for  a  Blackgown. 
Father  Druillettes  was  sent  to  them,  and  his  labors,  followed  by 
those  of  the  two  Bigots,  La  Chasse,  Loyard,  Sirenne,  and  Aubry, 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  Thury  and  Gaulin,  of  the  Seminary 
of  Quebec,  effected  the  conversion  of  the  powerful  tribe  of  the 
Abenakis,  or  Taranteens,  as  the  early  English  settlers  called  them. 
The  mission  long  maintained  its  zeal  and  fervor,  and  the  Indians 
on  all  occasions  acted  as  brave  and  faithful  allies  of  France.  But 
when  Acadia  was  lost,  the  English  in  Massachusetts  pursued  with 
cruel  vengeance  the  red  man's  attachment  to  Catholicity  and 
France.  Expedition  after  expedition  spread  fire  and  death  through 
the  villages  of  the  Abenakis ;  the  missionaries  were  driven  out  or 
slain,  the  churches  destroyed,  and  the  Indians  deprived  of  all  the 
consolations  of  the  faith.  Yet  they  had  been  too  well  grounded 
in  Catholicity  to  waver :  they  remained  true  to  the  faith,  and 


t^^t^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


19 


hem. 

dians 
But 
•with 
and 

ough 

ut  or 
Ithe 
nded 
and 


joining  tlio  Americans  in  their  rcvokitiou,  immediately  petitioned 
for  a  French  priest.  Down  to  our  day  they  have  resisted  the 
preachers  of  Protestantism,  and  the  remnants  of  this  powerful 
tribe,  who  still  occupy  five  villages  in  Canada  and  Maine,  are  all 
Catholics,  as  their  forefathers  have  been  for  two  centuries. 

After  Maine,  the  country  now  embraced  in  the  State  of  New 
York  was  first  visited  by  our  missionaries.  This  territory  was  in- 
habited by  the  celebrated  confederation  of  the  Five  Nations  or 
Iroquois,  who  waged  a  perpetual  war  with  the  Hurons  of  Canada. 
The  Hurons,  many  of  whom  had  embraced  the  true  faith,  beheld 
the  inveterate  hatred  of  their  enemies  redoubled;  and  after  a 
struggle  of  twenty-five  yeare,  from  1625  to  1650,  after  cutting  off 
nine  Jesuits,  the  Iroquois  could  boast  of  having  destroyed  tho 
Hurons.  Father  Jogues,  taken  captive  by  the  Mohawks  and  led 
to  their  castles,  was  tho  first  missionary  who  bore  tho  Gospel  to 
the  State  of  New  York,  then  a  Dutch  colony.  After  remaining 
a  prisoner  for  fifteen  months,  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  torture, 
Father  Jogues  was  delivered  by  the  Dutch,  and  sent  home  to 
France.  But  the  mutilated  hero  at  once  asked  to  be  sent  back  to 
his  Indians,  and  had  no  sooner  entered  their  castles,  in  1646,  than 
he  was  cut  down  by  a  tomahawk.  Such  a  fate  could  not,  how- 
ever, dismay  the  associates  of  Jogues,  and  soon  after,  Father  Le 
Moine,  in  his  turn,  braved  the  cruelty  of  the  Five  Nations.  After 
many  vicissitudes,  after  trials  of  every  kind,  the  Jesuits  at  last 
touched  the  breast  of  the  Iroquois,  and  founded  a  church  glorious 
in  the  annals  of  Christianity, — a  church  with  its  apostles,  its  mar- 
tyrs, its  holy  virgins, — a  church  which  even  in  our  day  has  been 
the  instioiment  of  converting  the  distant  tribes  of  Oregon.  All 
these  wonders  were  achieved  in  the  short  period  of  eighteen  years, 
for  after  that  the  English  succeeded  in  exciting  the  pagan  Indians 
against  the  missionaries,  whom  they  expelled  from  the  cantons  of 
the  Iroquois.  Fortunately,  however,  the  Catholic  Indians  had 
already  begun  to  emigrate  to  the  Catholic  colony  of  Canada. 


20 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


1  i 

i! 


■''i  i 


I  j 


i\ 


' 


The  mission  at  Caiighnawaga,  on  the  Mohawk,  had  been  the 
most  flourishing  of  all ;  and  this  was  not  surprising :  it  occupied 
the  spot  which  had  been  bedewed  with  the  blood  of  Father  Jogues 
and  his  companions,  Goupil  and  Lalande.  Harassed  in  the 
practice  of  their  religion,  the  Catholics  of  Caughnawaga,  led  by 
their  great  chieftain,  resolved  to  emigrate  to  Canada,  and  these 
pilgrims  for  the  faith  founded  near  Montreal  a  new  Caughnawaga, 
which  still  exists.  The  once  powerful  league  of  the  Iroquois  has 
disappeared  from  the  teri-itory  of  New  York.  Protestant  civiliza- 
tion destroyed  or  expelled  them,  to  seize  their  forests  and  hunting 
grounds.  But  the  descendants  of  the  pilgrims  of  1672  have  pre- 
served in  Canada  their  nationality  and  their  faith,  under  the  pro- 
tecting shadow  of  the  Cross.  Three  Iroquois  villages  exist  in  that 
colony,  one  containing  about  two  thousand  souls,  and  furnish 
striking  proof  of  the  solicitude  of  the  Church  for  the  salvation  of 
the  human  race. 

Other  parts  in  the  interior  of  the  United  States,  west  of  the 
English  colonies,  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  were  in  like  man- 
ner visited  by  missionaries  from  France,  and  the  first  nucleus  of  a 
settlement  in  many  States,  as  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  gathered  arouud  the  humble  chapel  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary. 

Protestant  writers  have  done  justice  to  the  wonderful  fecundity 
of  a  religion  which  covered  a  whole  continent  with  its  missiona- 
ries ;  and  Bancroft,  after  giving  a  magnificent  picture  of  the  labors 
of  the  Jesuits,  whose  early  exploration  of  the  wilderness,  even  in 
a  scientific  and  commercial  view,  must  win  the  admiration  of  all, 
adds :  "  Thus  did  the  religious  zeal  of  the  French  bear  the  Cross 
to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Mary  and  the  confines  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  look  wistfully  towards  the  homes  of  the  Sioux  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  five  years  before  the  New  England  Eliot  had 
addressed  the  tribe  of  Indians  that  dwelt  within  six  miles  of 
Boston  harbor." 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


21 


mis- 


Eliot  was  a  Protestant  minister,  almost  the  only  one  wlio  de- 
voted himself  to  evangelize  the  Indians  of  New  England,  and  from 
the  lips  of  the  American  author,  this  contrast  between  the  wide- 
spread missions  of  the  Jesuits  in  1640,  and  the  labors  of  Eliot 
near  Boston,  is  a  striking  homage  to  Catholicity.  In  1061  Father 
M6nard  projected  a  mission  among  the  Sioux,  west  of  Lake  Su- 
perior, but  perished  amid  the  forests  in  what  is  now  the  Vicariate 
Apostolic  of  Upper  Michigan.  Father  Allouez  soon  took  up  the 
labors  of  Menard,  and  all  the  country  around  the  great  lakes, 
Huron,  Michigan,  and  Superior,  echoed  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Jesuits.  Sault  St.  Mary's,  Mackinaw,  and  Green  Bay  were  the 
centres  of  these  missions,  which  still  subsist,  and  the  traveller  who 
stops  at  one  of  the  rising  towns  of  the  northern  Mississippi,  will 
hear  the  priest  address  his  congregation  alternately  in  French, 
English,  and  some  Indian  dialect. 

Scarcely  were  the  Jesuits  thus  established  in  the  country  of  the 
great  lakes,  when  they  resolved  to  evangelize  the  whole  valley  of 
the  Mississippi.  Father  Marquette  planted  the  Cross  amid  the 
Illinois,  after  having  had  in  1673  the  glory  of  discovering  and 
exploring  the  Mississippi.  For  two  months  he  sailed  down  the 
river  in  his  bark  canoe,  and  the  narrative  of  his  extraordinaiy 
voyage,  revealing  to  the  world  the  fact  that  the  St.  Lawrence 
could  communicate  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  an  almost  unin- 
terrupted chain  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  streams,  gave  France  the  first 
idea  of  colonizing  Louisiana.  The  Mississippi  valley  soon  beheld 
missions  rise  among  the  Illinois,  Miamis,  Yazoos,  Arkansas,  Nat- 
chez, and  other  tribes.  Jesuits,  Recollects,  and  Priests  of  the 
Foreign  Missions,  here  shared  the  rude  toil  of  converting  the  In- 
dians, and  the  French  missions  of  North  America  thus  mingle 
and  blend  with  those  of  the  Spaniards  at  the  South.  But  after  a 
century  of  preaching,  all  these  laborious  toils  are  compromised  by 
the  loss  of  Canada  and  the  suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
Many  flocks  were  then  deprived  of  pastors.    Not  only  the  Indian 


tl 


ii 


22 


TUB  CATHOLIC  oiiuiion 


converts,  but  even  the  Froncli  sottlors  wcro  left  deatituto  of  priests, 
abandoned  to  the  seductions  of  error  or  the  ravages  of  indift'er- 
ence,  till  at  last  Providence  used  the  dispersion  of  the  French 
clergy,  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  to  send  to  America  missionaries, 
and  build  up  anew  the  church  whose  consoling  progress  wo  have 
undertaken  to  recount. 

Ilaving  thus  glanced  at  tlie  early  Spanish  and  French  missions, 
we  have  now  to  chronicle  the  labors  of  the  English  Jesuits  in 
Maryland.* 


h 
I 


\l 


CHAPTER   II. 


THE    OOLONIAL   CHURC/I. 


JnUryland— Soltlwl  by  Catholics— Their  persecution— Tholr  omanciputlon— 1634-1774. 

We  have  briefly  sketched  the  early  evangelical  labors  of  the 
Spanish  and  French  missionaries  on  the  domain  which  now  con- 
stitutes the  United  States.  A  third  nation  came  in  its  turn  to 
contribute  by  its  holy  souls  to  the  Apostolates  of  the  American 
continent,  and  the  Jesuits  of  England  share  in  the  settlement  of 
Mar}  land.  The  first  English  colonies  in  America  each  introduced 
a  new  creed.  In  1607  Captain  John  Smith  and  some  Episcopa- 
lians founded  Virginia ;  in  1620  the  Separatists  lanUud  at  Ply- 
mouth, and  laid  the  foundations  of  New  England;  in  1684  the 
Quakers,  under  the  patronage  of  William  Penn,  took  possession 
of  Pennsylvania ;  while  ;n  i  i)34  the  Catholics  laid  the  comer-stone 


*  Much  of  the  preceding  wa>A  d  %-fi    from  a  lecture  o?  Mr.  John  G.  Shea 
delivered  in  1852,  before  the  Cuiholo  •  r..£,i'iuto  of  New  York,  the  basis  of  his 
well-known  and  elaborate  History  of  tb.".  Catholic  Miynioub  among  the  Indian 
tribee  of  the  United  States. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATEB. 


23 


of  the  present  State  of  Muryhvucl,  which  received  it8  nam*  from 
Henriette  Marie,  the  unfortunate  queen,  daughter  of  Ihtin  Quatre 
and  wife  of  Charles  I.*  But  that  land  had  been  already  bedewed 
vith  martyr  blood,  iw  though  Providence  had  ordained  that  it 
should  be  stamnr-d  wiili  the  seal  of  the  true  faith  before  any 
Protestant  s^'.ct  had  Ir.usplanted  its  errors  there.  As  early  as 
1570  the  Je-nif  •  who  were  laboring  on  the  missions  in  Florida, 
turned  'li'iir  atteLtion  to  a  country  far  to  the  north  of  them,  at 
tlie  ;iVth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  known  to  the  natives  by 
the  name  of  Axacun.  The  Spanish  navigators  who  had  first  ex- 
plored the  coast,  had  brought  away  the  son  of  a  cacique,  who  was 
adopted  by  the  missionaries  as  a  future  means  of  enabling  the 
Gospel  to  penetrate  to  his  tribe. 

The  young  Indian,  gifted  with  rare  talents,  soon  seemed  to 
embrace  the  truths  of  the  faith  with  ardor,  and  ere  long,  baptized 
under  the  name  of  Don  Luis  de  Velascos,  Lord  of  Vasallos,  ho 
offered  to  lead  the  Jesuits  to  the  kingdom  of  Axacan.  How 
could  the  missionaiies  resist  the  hope  of  converting  a  savage  peo- 
ple to  the  faith  ? 

Accordingly  the  offer  of  the  young  cacique  was  cheerfully  ac- 
cepted, and  eight  Jesuits,  under  the  direction  of  Father  Segura, 
Vice-provincial  of  Florida,  embarked  in  a  small  craft,  which 
landed  them  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  then  known  to 
the  Spaniards  by  the  name  of  St.  Mary's.  This  bay  now  bathes 
the  shores  of  the  States  of  Mar\  land  and  Virginia,  and  by  a  sin- 
gular .  ucidouce,  the  names  of  Virgin  and  Mary,  given  in  mem- 
ory of  two  queens,  will  ever  l>e  a  memorial  of  its  earlier  consecra- 
tion to  Mary,  the  Mother  of  <i}od. 

The  missionaries  landed,  accompanied  by  some  Indian  boys, 
who  had  been  educated  in  their  achool  in  Havana.    They  pene- 


Shea^ 

of  hi* 

llndina 


*  Philarete  Chasles,  iu  his  "  Essay  on  the  Anglo-Americans,"  says  that 
Maryland  was  so  called  in  honor  of  Mary  Tudor.  Thin  ia  an  error :  Queen 
Mary  had  been  dead  sixty-six  years  before  the  grant  to  Lord  Baltimore. 


1i' 


'^li 


iM 


I,     ! 


'  i^  , 


u 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


trated  into  the  interior,  guided  by  Vasallos,  and  after  a  painful 
march  of  several  months,  they  approached  the  realm  of  Axacan. 
At  last  their  guide  started  on,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  prepare  his 
tribe  to  receive  the  missionaries.  But  after  forsaking  the  Jesuits 
amid  the  trackless  forests,  where  they  endured  all  the  horrors  of 
famine,  the  traitor  returned  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  armed  men, 
and  butchered  his  benefactors  at  the  foot  of  a  rustic  altar,  where 
they  had  daily  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  his 
tribe.  The  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  Christians,  and  such 
is  the  first  triumph  of  the  faith  on  the  banks  of  the  Chesapeake.* 

After  Father  Segura,  Father  White  is  the  first  who  came  to 
labor  for  the  conversion  of  these  native  tribes.  Sir  George  Cal- 
vert was  in  1624  a  member  of  the  privy  council  of  James  I., 
when  the  sight  of  the  persecutions  employed  against  the  Catho- 
lics touched  the  loyal  and  religious  heart  of  the  English  lord.  He 
abjured  Anglicanism,  and,  informing  his  sovereign  of  the  step,  re- 
signed all  his  posts.  James  resolved  to  retain  the  services  of  so 
conscientious  a  man.  He  made  him  a  peer  of  Ireland,  with  the 
title  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  granted  him  a  considerable  portion 
of  JSTewfoundland,  which  he  encouraged  him  to  settle.  Calvert 
devoted  a  part  of  his  fortune  to  fruitless  attempts  on  that  island. 
He  then  directed  his  attention  to  Virginia,  where  a  more  genial 
climate  gave  him  hopes  of  a  prosperous  settlement. 

But  sailing  there,  he  was  called  upon  to  take  the  test  oath  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  matters  of  faith,  and  he  left  the 
country  rather  than  betray  his  conscience.  Then  it  was  that  Lord 
Baltimore  solicited  a  charter  which  would  permit  the  Catholics 
to  practise  their  worship  undisturbed  in  one  spot  on  the  shores  of 
America.  His  request  was  granted,  and  Maryland  was  ceded  to 
him,  subject  only  to  the  yearly  homage  of  two  Indian  arrows  and 
the  payment  into  the  royal  exchequer  of  onu  fifth  of  the  gold 


*  Shea's  Lecture, 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


25 


and  silver  drawn  from  the  mines.  Lord  Baltimore  died  in  1632, 
at  the  very  moment  when  tliis  charter  was  issuing.  His  eldest 
Bon,  Cecil  Calvert,  inlierited  his  rights,  but  he  had  not  the  energy 
to  direct  the  expedition  in  person,  and  to  Leonard  Calvert,  second 
son  of  Lord  George,  is  due  the  honor  of  having  founded  Maryland. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1634,  two  hundred  English  families, 
chiefly  Catholic,  flying  from  the  persecution  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, entered  the  Potomac  in  two  little  vessels,  the  Ark  and  Dove. 
It  Avas  Lady-day,  and  the  settlers  wished  to  celebrate  it  duly  by 
hearing  Mass.  They  accordingly  landed,  and  Father  White,  in 
his  relation  of  the  voyage,  thus  gives  an  account  of  the  ceremony  :* 

"  On  the  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
we  oflfered  for  the  first  time  in  this  region  of  the  world  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass.  The  sacrifice  being  ended,  we  took  on  our 
shoulders  a  huge  cross  which  we  had  hewn  from  a  tree,  and  car- 
ried it  in  procession  to  a  place  marked  out  for  it,  the  governor, 
commissioners,  and  other  Catholics  bearing  a  part  in  the  cere- 
mony. We  raised  it  a  trophy  to  Christ  the  Saviour,  humbly 
chanting  on  bended  knees  and  with  deep  emotion  the  Litany  of 
the  Cross." 

Father  White  was  born  at  London  about  15 "7 9,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  College  of  Douay,  founded  in  1568  by  the 
celebrated  Cardinal  Allen  in  order  to  train  up  priests  for  the  Eng- 
lish mission.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  received  orders,  and 
was  immediately  sent  to  London  to  exercise  the  ministry  there  in 
secrecy,  as  the  penal  laws  then  required.  He  could  not,  however, 
escape  the  keen  search  of  the  pursuivants.  In  1602  we  find  him 
included  with  forty-six  other  priests  in  a  sentence  of  perpetual 
banishment.  Forced  thus  to  return  to  the  continent.  Father 
White  resolved  to  enter  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  after  making  a 

*  "  Rolatio  Itineris,"  by  Father  Andrew  White,  copied  at  Rome  by  Father 
M'Sherry,  S.  J.,  and  published  in  Force's  Tracts,  and  in  part  in  Burnap's 
Life  of  Calvert,  p.  58 


I 


i  i 


I! 


26 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


novitiate  of  two  years  at  Louvain,  obtained  permission  to  return 
to  England.  Amid  tlie  most  heroic  labors  of  that  illustrious  or- 
der, we  may  cite  the  unwearied  devotion  of  the  English  Jesuits  in 
favor  of  their  persecuted  countrymen.  For  two  centuries  they 
devoted  themselves  to  the  perilous  labors  of  the  holy  ministry  in 
England,  braving  chains  and  death ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  by 
opening  colleges  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  they  baffled  the 
rigors  of  Protestant  legislation,  which  had  pitilessly  closed  every 
source  of  Catholic  education  in  the  three  kingdoms. 

The  English  Jesuits  had  in  1590  obtained  of  the  liberality  of 
Philip  II.  of  Spain  the  foundation  of  a  college  at  St.  Omer's,  and 
Bome  years  later  they  opened  the  college  of  Liege  in  the  domains 
of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria.  At  the  same  time,  they  established  in 
Spain  for  English  postulants  the  Novitiate  of  Valladolid  and  the 
Scholasticate  of  St.  Ermenegild  near  Seville.  To  this  latter  house 
Father  White  was  sent,  after  having  spent  ten  years  on  the  Lon- 
don mission.  The  quiet  duties  of  a  professor's  chair  did  not, 
however,  satisfy  his  ardent  zeal,  and  he  soon  obtained  permission 
to  return  for  the  third  time  to  England.  Lord  Baltimore  no 
sooner  knew  him  than  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  intrust  him 
with  the  spiritual  care  of  his  Maryland  settlers.  The  Society  of 
Jesus  eagerly  seconded  the  pious  views  of  the  English  nobleman ; 
nor,  indeed,  could  it  refuse  to  concur  in  a  work  which  promised 
such  an  extension  to  the  bounds  of  the  Church.  To  Father 
White  were  associated  Father  John  Altham,  known  on  the  mis- 
sion by  the  name  of  Grovener,*  and  two  lay  ])rotliers.  Scarcely 
had  they  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  Potomac  when  the  com- 

*  Cretineau  Joly,  in  liis  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  supposes  a 
Father  Altham  and  a  Fatlier  Grovcner  (iii.  350),  but  from  an  article  of  tho 
late  B,  U.  Campbell,  Esq.,  in  the  Catholic  Almanac  for  1841,  it  is  clear  that 
under  the  two  names  we  must  reckon  only  one  Jesuit.  The  missionaries  of 
that  time,  in  order  to  elude  the  persecution  of  Anglicans,  often  took  succes- 
sively several  names  as  several  disguises.  This  was  necessary  to  preservo 
to  the  Catholics  of  England  the  services  of  their  Fathers  and  pastors. 


' 


.!■  'i' 


i'll 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


27 


return 
LIS  or- 
uits  in 
s  they 
5try  in 
ne,  by 
3d  the 
every 

ahty  of 
•'s,  and 
omains 
shed  in 
md  the 
r  house 
tie  Lon- 
lid  not, 
■mission 
lore  no 
ust  him 
ciety  of 
)leman ; 
omised 
Father 
e  mis- 
carcely 
e  com- 


jposes  a 
le  of  tlio 
[lear  that 
Inaries  of 
siicces- 
Iprcscrvo 


panions  of  Leonard  Calvert  founded  the  httle  town  of  St.  Mary's ; 
and  the  largest  cabin  of  an  Indian  tribe,  ceded  to  the  missiona- 
ries, became  the  first  chapel  of  Maryland. 

The  Fathers  at  once  divided  their  time  between  the  European 
colonists  and  the  Indian  tnbes  whose  eyes  they  had  vowed  to 
open  to  the  light  of  the  Gospel.  The  former  constituted  a  con- 
gregation remarkable  for  their  piety  and  morality,  so  that  many  of 
the  Protestants  who  landed  in  1634  and  1G38  became  Catholics. 
"The  Relation"  of  1638,  addressed  to  the  General  at  Rome,  con- 
tains these  words : 

"  The  religious  exercises  are  followed  with  exactness,  and  the 
sacraments  are  well  frequented.  By  the  spiritual  exercises  we  have 
formed  the  principal  inhabitants  to  the  practice  of  piety,  and  they 
have  derived  signal  benefits  from  them.  The  sick  and  dying,  whoso 
number  has  been  considerable  this  year,  have  all  been  attended,  in 
spite  of  the  great  distance  of  their  dwellings,  so  that  not  a  Cathoho 
died  without  having  received  the  benefit  of  the  sacraments." 

On  his  side  Father  AVhite,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  age 
(he  was  then  fifty-five),  took  upon  him  the  hard  task  of  learning 
the  language  of  the  Indians.  From  the  first  the  welcome  of  the 
natives  had  been  cordial.  In  his  intercourse  with  them  Leonard 
Calvert  had  always  shown  the  greatest  loyalty,  and  the  Maryland 
historian*  says  on  this  subject : 

"  During  the  remainder  of  the  year,  while  the  English  and  In- 
dians lived  together  in  St.  Mary's,  according  to  their  stipulation, 
the  utmost  harmony  appears  to  have  prevailed  among  them.  The 
natives  went  every  day  to  hunt  Avitli  the  '  new-comers'  for  deer 
and  turkeys,  which,  when  they  had  caught,  being  more  CNpcrt  at 
it,  they  either  gave  to  the  English  or  sold  for  knives,  beads,  and 
Buch  trifles.  They  also  supplied  them  with  fish  in  plenty.  As  a 
certain  mark  of  the  entire  confidence  which  these  unsuspecting 


*  Bozmau's  Maryland,  ii.  31. 


i 


I 


I      I 


n 


28 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


people  placed  in  the  colonists,  tlieir  women  and  children  became, 
in  some  measui'e,  domesticated  in  the  English  families" 

The  gentle  and  even  innocent  life  of  the  Indians  disposed  them 
favorably  to  receive  the  Gospel.  Father  "White  accordingly,  on 
his  first  visit  to  the  Patnxents,  made  some  converts.  In  1639 
Father  Brock,  just  arrived  from  England,  resided  amidst  them  on 
a  strip  of  laud  given  him  by  King  Mackaquomen,  and  Father 
Althani  was  stationed  on  Kent  Island.  In  the  ardor  of  his  char- 
ity. Father  Brock,  in  1641,  Avrote  : 

"  For  my  own  part,  I  would  rather,  laboring  in  the  conversion 
of  these  Indians,  expire  on  the  bare  ground,  deprived  of  all  hu- 
man succor,  and  perishing  Avith  hunger,  than  once  think  of  aban- 
doning this  holy  work  of  God  from  the  fear  of  want." 

These  noble  words  were  his  testament,  and  a  few  weeks  later 
Father  Brock  breathed  his  last,  exhausted  by  hardship  and  priva- 
tions. 

Father  AVhite  had  in  1639  taken  up  his  station  among  the 
riscataways,  who  resided  near  the  present  city  of  Washington ; 
and  ere  long  he  had  the  consolation  of  baptizing  King  Chiloma- 
con,  his  family,  and  a  pnrrt  of  his  tribe.  The  young  queen  of  the 
Potopacos,  and  the  chief  men  of  the  tribe,  followed  this  example, 
so  that  the  neophytes  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The 
settlers  at  St.  Mary's  had  meanwhile  built  a  suitable  church,  in 
which  one  of  the  Fathers  ministered.  The  missionaries,  entirely 
devoted  to  their  religious  duties,  constantly  refused  to  take  any 
part  in  the  political  organization  of  the  colony,  and  as  they  had 
been  invited  to  sit  in  the  first  legislature  of  Maryland,  "  desired  to 
be  excused  from  giving  voices  in  this  assembly."*  Such  is  the 
striking  testimony  given  by  a  Protestant  author,  little  as  it  may 
tally  with  the  heated  accusations  of  the  many  writers  who  inces- 
santly complain  of  Jesuit  ambition. 


*  Bozman's  Maryland,  vol.  i.  p.  83.     The  precise  terms  of  the  minutes  of 
the  Assembly,  Jan.  25,  1637,  preserved  in  the  archives  at  Annapolis. 


"i 


I 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


29 


ecame, 

1  tliem 
gV»  on 
I  1639 
lem  on 
Father 
is  char- 

wersion 

all  hu- 

Df  aban- 

ks  later 
d  priva- 

ong  the 
lington ; 
Ihiloma- 
n  of  the 
ixample, 
:y.    The 
urch,  in 
entirely 
^ako  any 
,hey  had 
lesired  to 
ih  is  the 
IS  it  may 
0  inces- 


linutea  of 
Ills. 


This  resolution  not  to  iuterfere  in  politics  made  them  heli)less 
to  stem  the  religious  persecution  which  was  soon  to  drive  them 
from  the  arena  of  their  religious  labors.  Misled  by  an  idea  more 
generous  than  prudent,  Lord  Baltimore  had  openly  proclaimed 
the  liberty  of  Christian  worship  in  his  domain  of  Maryland ;  and 
this  first  example  of  toleration,  "  at  a  time  Avhen,  in  fact,  tolera- 
tion was  not  considered  in  any  part  of  the  Protestant  w^orld  to  be 
due  to  Roman  Catholics,"*  when,  in  fact,  every  Protestant  gov- 
ernment in  Europe,  and  even  the  other  English  colonies  in  Amer- 
ica, exercised  the  most  inhuman  intolerance  on  the  Catholics,  has 
been  extolled  with  enthusiasm  by  American  authors : 

"Upon  the  2'7th  day  of  March,  1C34,"  says  Bancroft,  "the 
Catholics  took  quiet  possession  of  the  little  place,  and  religious 
liberty  obtained  a  home,  its  only  home  in  the  wide  world,  at  the 
humble  village  which  bore  the  name  of  St.  Mary's."j 

McMahon,  the  historian  of  Maryland,  also  says : 

"  Yet,  while  we  would  avoid  all  invidious  contrasts,  and  forget 
the  stern  spirit  of  the  Puritan,  which  so  frequently  mistook  reli- 
gious intolerance  for  holy  zeal,  we  can  turn  with  exultation  to  the 
Pilgrims  of  Maryland  as  the  founders  of  religious  liberty  in  the 
New  World.  They  erected  the  first  altar  to  it  on  this  continent, 
and  the  fires  first  kindled  on  it  ascended  to  heaven  amid  the 
blessings  of  the  savage."^ 

This  toleration  was,  however,  only  partial ;  for  to  gain  entrance 
to  Lord  Baltimore's  vast  domains  it  was  necessaiy  to  believe  in 
the  divinity  of  Christ.  But  if,  even  with  this  restriction,  the  con- 
duct of  the  founders  of  Maryland  is  the  object  of  so  much  eulogy 
in  America,  we  must  claim  our  right  to  hesitate  in  joining  in  it. 
That  the  partisans  of  free  examination  should  refuse  to  hinder  the 
introduction  of  a  new  worship  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  their 

*  Rev.  Dr.  liaird,  in  his  "  KcliKloii  in  Aiiuirica,"  p.  G2. 
t  J^ancroft'is  History  oftlic  United  States,  i.  217. 
X  McMalion's  Marjland,  1  OS— note. 


i31tUothcst' 


;•>< "  ■ ' 


iKaM'**.--^^ 


tvfJON'l   K'.V^*^ 


30 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIURCn 


ii  ,,l 


■V}       I 

111"    I 


il  I 


principles.  But  \\\wn  a  Stiilo  lias  the  happiness  of  possessing 
unity  of  religion,  and  that  religion  the  truth,  wo  cannot  conceive 
how  the  government  can  facilitate  the  division  of  creeds.  Lord 
Baltimore  had  seen  too  well  how  the  English  Catholics  were 
crushed  by  the  Protestants,  as  soon  as  they  were  tlie  strongest 
and  most  numerous ;  he  should  then  have  foreseen  that  it  would 
be  so  in  JNfaryland,  so  that  the  English  Catholics,  instead  of  lind- 
ing  liberty  in  America,  only  changed  their  bondage.  Instead, 
then,  of  admiring  the  liberality  of  Lord  Baltimore,  we  prefer  to 
believe  that  lie  obtained  his  charter  from  Charles  L,  only  on  the 
formal  condition  of  admitting  Protestants  on  an  equal  footing 
with  Catholics. 

The  Jesuits,  devoting  themselves,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  red  men,  as  well  a<*  of  the  colonists,  were  not  unaided  in 
their  work  of  love.  In  1G43  two  Capuchin  Fathers,  sent  out  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide," 
arrived  to  join  the  devoted  followers  of  St.  Ignatius.""* 

Ten  years  had  scarcely  elapsed  after  the  landing  of  Leonard 
Calvert  when  the  Protestants  of  Maryland  were  already  in  open 
insurrection  against  the  Catholics  and  their  governor.     The  Jesu- 

*  This  fact  is  mentioned  by  Ilenrion  in  liis  History  of  Catholic  Missions, 
i.  035,  on  the  authority  of  tho  "  Present  State  of  the  Ciinrch  in  all  parts  of 
"the  World,  by  Urban  Cerri,"  pai^c  282.  After  an  account  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sion, this  author  states  at  tho  same  time  the  General  of  the  Capuchins,  ou 
the  recommendation  of  the  Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide,"  sent  several 
French  and  English  Capuchins  to  Virginia,  under  which  name  the  Italian 
author  includes  all  the  English  colonics  in  North  America.  Ho  adds,  too, 
that  the  mission  was  restored  in  1G50,  at  tho  request  of  the  queen  dowager 
of  Kngland,  but  that  it  was  subsequently  abamloned." 

Tlio  Narrative  of  Father  White,  ])ublished  by  Force  in  his  Historical 
Tracts,  iv.  47,  says,  under  the  date  of  lti43,  "Two  Fathers  of  tho  order  of 
St.  Francis,  sent  from  Kngland  the  year  before,  have  entered  into  a  portion 
of  the  labors  and  luirvcst,  between  whom  and  us  offices  of  kindness  arc  mu- 
tually observed  for  the  common  prosperity  of  the  Catholic  cause." 

Hennepin,  tho  Flemish  Keoollect,  twice  in  his  "  New  iJiscovcry"  (Edn. 
]fi9S\  at  pages  59  and  281,  alludes  to  the  labors  of  English  Franciscans  in 
lilaryland. 


a 


/ 


S 


o; 
ai 
te 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


81 


its  were  seized  and  sent  oft',  loaded  with  irons,  to  England,  whera 
they  were  confined  in  prisons  for  several  years.  In  1G48  Father 
Fisher  succeeded  in  returning  to  Maryland,  and  immediately  on 
his  return  wrote  to  Rome — 

"By  the  singular  providence  ol'  Ciod,  I  found  my  flock  collected 
together,  after  they  had  been  scattered  for  three  long  years ;  and 
tliey  were  really  in  more  flourishing  circumstances  than  those 
who  had  oppressed  and  plundered  them ;  with  what  joy  they  re- 
ceived mo,  and  with  what  delight  I  met  them,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  describe,  but  they  received  me  t\s  an  angel  of  God.  I 
have  now  been  with  them  a  fortnight,  and  am  preparing  for  the 
painful  separation ;  for  the  Indians  sunuuon  me  to  their  aid,  and 
they  have  been  ill-treated  by  the  enemy  since  I  was  torn  from 
tliem.  I  hardly  know  what  to  do,  but  I  cannot  attend  to  all. 
God  grant  that  I  may  do  his  will  for  the  greater  glory  of  his 
name.  Truly  flowers  appear  in  our  land  :  may  they  attain  to 
fruit."* 

Father  Andrew  White,  despite  his  earnest  desire,  liad  not  the 
hapi)iness  of  returning  to  America.  After  nuiny  years'  confine- 
ment he  was  banished  from  England,  but  by  his  Superior's  orders 
at  once  returned  again,  braving  the  rigor  of  the  penal  laws  against 
missionaries.  He  devoted  the  closing  years  of  his  life  to  the  same 
ministry  in  which  lie  had  spent  his  youth,  and  the  Apostle  of 
Maryland  died  at  Loudon  in  1G57,  one  of  the  holiest  members  of 
an  order  which  lias  produced  so  many  saints. 

Meanwhile  his  fellow  religious  maintained  their  ground  in 
America,  amid  the  constant  disorders  in  which  the  colony  lan- 
guished, and  for  more  than  a  century  the  English  Jesuits,  in  un- 
interrupted succession,  kept  alive  the  faith  of  the  settlers  amid 


(Edn. 
'iins  in 


*  Letter  eited  by  the,  late  B.  U.  Ciimiibe.ll,  Esq.,  in  his  "  Historical  Sketch 
ot'tlie  Early  (,'lirlstitin  Missions  ainoncr  tlio  Indians  of  Maryland,"  from  which 
and  from  whoso  "  Life  of  Archbishop  Carroll"  we  derive  much  of  these  chap- 
ters, as  will  1)0  evident  to  all  American  readers. 


l\  1 


ii  P. 


32 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I     ii; 


i^l 


j   : 


:    •!!' 


the  persecutions  of  which  they  were  the  victims,  ami  of  which  we 
cannot  omit  some  account. 

« 

The  Catholics  had  ah-cady  been  persecuted,  but  they  did  not 
learn  to  persecute.  Composing  a  majority  in  the  Assembly  of 
1649,  they  passed  the  famous  "Act  concerning  religion,"  which 
provided  that  "no  ])erson  whatsoever,  professing  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  molested  for  or  in  respect  of  his  or  her  re- 
ligion, or  the  free  exercise  thereof."*  Yet  their  conduct  was 
scorned,  their  example  not  followed. 

In  1664  the  Provincial  Assembly  deprived  Catholics  of  their 
civil  rights,  and  decreed  that  liberty  of  conscience  should  not  ex- 
tend to  "popery,  prelacy,  or  licentiousness  of  opinion,"  an  act 
which  has  drawn  from  the  historian  Bancroft  this  reflection:  "The 
Puritans  had  neither  the  gTatitude  to  respect  the  rights  of  the 
government,  by  which  they  had  been  received  and  fostered,  nor 
magnanimity  to  continue  the  toleration  to  which  alone  they  were 
indebted  for  their  residence  in  the  colony ."f 

In  1692  the  Assembly  established  the  Anglican  Church 
throughout  the  colony  of  Maryland,  dividing  the  counties  into 
parishes,  and  imposing  a  tax  on  citizens  of  every  denomination 
for  the  support  of  the  Protestant  clerg)\  While  the  Catholics 
were  masters  of  the  government,  they  liad  made  no  such  exaction 
for  the  supix)rt  of  their  missionaries.  Tlie  Jesuits  received  con- 
cessions of  land  on  the  same  terms  as  other  colonists,  but  all  was 
voluntary  in  the  offerings  of  the  faithful ;  and  now  Catholics  were 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  support  of  a  creed  which  persecuted 
them. 

In  1 704  a  new  law,  entitled  "  An  act  to  prevent  the  increase  of 
Popery  in  the  Province,"  prohibited  all  bishops  and  priests  fi'om 
saying  Mass,  exercising  the  spiritual  functions  of  their  ministry, 
or  endeavoring  to  gain  converts ;  it  also  forbid  Catholics  to  teach, 

*  See  this  elaborately  proved  iu  Davia's  Day-star.    Scribuer,  1856. 
t  Bancroft,  i.  2()1. 


i 


<. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


83 


niul  enabled  a  Catholic  cliikl,  by  becoming  a  Protestant,  to  exact 
from  its  Catholic  parents  its  pro[)ortion  of  his  property,  as  though 
they  were  dead.  Catholics  were,  however,  permitted  to  hear 
Mass  in  their  own  families  and  on  their  own  grounds,  and  only 
by  this  exception  couhl  tlie  Catholic  wursliip  be  practised  in  Ala- 
ryhmd  for  seventy  years. 

The  property  of  the  Jesuits  rested  on  the  compact  between 
Lord  Baltimore  and  the  colonists,  entitled  "  Conditions  of  Planta- 
tion," by  which  every  colonist  settling  with  live  able-bodied  labor- 
ers was  entitled  to  two  thousand  acres  of  land  at  a  moderate  rate. 
Moreover,  the  Indian  kings  whom  they  had  converted,  had  mado 
gratuitous  concessions  of  land  to  the  Church. 

According  to  the  law,  the  Jesuits  could  exercise  the  ministry 
only  in  their  own  house  and  for  their  own  servants ;  and  the  size 
of  the  chapels  corresponded  to  this  ostensible  design,  and  they 
were  always  connected  with  the  house.  Of  coui'se,  however,  the 
Catholics  eluded  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  these  houses  became 
the  sole  refuge  of  religion  in  Maryland. 

In  1*706  an  act  authorized  the  meetings  of  the  Quakers,  so  that 
in  a  colony  founded  by  Catholics,  Catholics  were  the  only  victims 
of  the  intolerance  of  the  dominant  party.  During  the  following 
years  successive  laws  deprived  them  of  the  elective  franchise,  un- 
less they  took  the  tost  oath  and  renounced  their  faith.  The 
e'-ecutivo  power,  too,  often  arbitrarily  issued  proclamations,  by  its 
own  authority,  "  to  take  children  from  the  pernicious  influence  of 
Catholic  parents,"  and.  the  Assembly  voted  that  Papists  should 
pay  double  the  tax  levied  on  Protestants.  The  animosity  against 
Catholics  at  last  became  such  that  they  were  forbidden  to  ap})car 
in  certain  parts  of  the  towns,  and  they  were  in  a  manner  shut  up 
in  a  sort  of  Ghetto. 

Many  of  the  Catholics  now  sought  to  escape  this  oppression, 

and  Daniel  Carroll,   father  of  the  future  Bishop  of  Baltimore, 

sailed  to  France  in  1752  to  nesrotiate  for  the  emignation  of  all  the 

0-* 


84 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


1.1 

1 

1 
1 

4'! 

1 

i 

Maryland  Cutliolics  to  Louisifina.  For  this  purpose  he  had  sev- 
oral  interviews  uith  tlie  ministry  of  Louis  XV.,  in  order  to  con- 
viiK'O  them  of  the  immense  resources  of  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sipj)! ;  but  the  government  which  abandoned  Canada  to  Knghmd, 
and  sold  Louisiana  to  Spain,  was  not  able  to  ap])reciate  the  foi'e- 
cast  of  Carroll,  and  his  otl'ers  were  rejected. 

During  all  this  period  of  oppression  the  Catholics  of  Maryland, 
with  rare  exceptions,  remained  faithful  to  the  Church,  and  as 
their  missionaries  afforded  them  means  of  Catholic  education, 
many  of  the  younger  niembers,  to  pursue  more  extensive  studies, 
crossed  the  ocean.  Many  of  both  sexes  in  France  and  IV'lgium 
entered  religious  orders ;  some  returning  as  Jesuit  Fathers  to  re- 
pay the  care  bestowed  on  themselves ;  others,  by  their  pi-ayers  in 
silent  cloisters,  obtaining  graces  and  spiritual  blessings  for  their 
distant  Maryland.  Of  the  Jesuits  who  labored  in  AL-iryland  prior 
to  the  Revolution,  a  great  many  were  natives  of  the  jiroviuce,  and 
we  find  otliers  on  the  mission  in  England. 

The  penal  laws  prevented  any  emigration  of  Catholics  to  Mary- 
land, and  indeed  the  only  acciession  to  their  numbers  which  the 
faithful  in  Maryland  received  from  abroad,  was  a  number  of 
Acadians,  who,  after  beholding  the  devastation  of  their  happy 
homes  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  were  torn  from  their  native  shores  in 
1*755,  and  thrown  destitute  on  the  coast  of  the  various  colonies. 
Those  who  were  set  ashore  in  Mfuyland  seem  to  have  been  moio 
hapj)y  than  most  of  their  sutlering  countrymen.  Fur  a  considera- 
ble period  they  enjoyed  the  presence  of  a  piiest — the  lu.'v.  ]\Ir. 
Leclerc — and  raised  a  chuivh  on  a  hill  outside  of  ]'>altimore. 
On  the  departure  of  this  excellent  man,  who  left  them  vestments 
and  altar  plate,  these  Acadians  had  to  rely  on  the  occasional 
visits  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers.* 

Meanwhile  the  Anglican  clergy  in  Maryland,  fattening  on  their 

*  Robin,  Noufeau  Voyage,  p.  98. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


35 


tithes,  lived  in  plenty  and  disorder  amid  their  slaves,  without  in 
the  least  troubling  their  minds  about  preaching  to  their  flocks. 
So  notorious  is  this  disorderly  conduct  of  the  colonial  clergy,  that 
the  Protestant  Bishop  of  Maryland,  a  few  years  since,  exclaimed : 
"  Often  as  I  hoar  and  read  authentic  evidence  of  the  character  of 
a  largo  proportion  of  the  clergy  in  the  province  of  Maryland,  two 
generations  since,  I  am  struck  with  wonder  that  God  spared  a 
church  so  universally  corrupt,  and  did  not  utterly  remove  its  can- 
dlestick out  of  its  place."* 

As  a  contrast,  wo  give  the  foUoAving  address  of  the  legislature 
to  the  Governor  of  Maryland,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1G97  : 

"  On  the  complaint  of  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England, 
that  the  Popish  priests  in  Charles  county  do,  of  their  own  accord, 
in  this  violout  and  raging  mortality  in  that  county,  make  it  their 
bualue.~.3  tt  go  up  and  down  the  county  to  pei-sons'  houses,  when 
dying  and  frantic,  and  endeavor  to  seduce  au<l  make  proselytes  of 
them,  and  in  such  condition  boldly  presume  to  administer  the 
sacraments  to  them:  We  humbly  entreat  your  excellency  to 
issue  your  proclamation  to  restrain  and  prohibit  such  their  ex- 
travagant and  presumptuous  behavior."! 

Thus  the  wide  difference  between  a  ministry  of  truth  and  a 
ministry  of  error,  appeared  in  Maryland  as  elsewhere,  the  former 
devoting  life  in  the  service  of  their  neighbor,  the  latter  only  think- 
ing of  the  enjoyments  of  life. 

'J'his  degradation  of  the  Anglican  clergy  at  last  sapped  all  their 
authority,  and  the  feelings  of  the  Protestants  towards  their  Cath- 
olic countrymen  began  gradually  to  change.  "When  discontent 
with  the  mother  country  awakened  ideas  of  an  insurrection 
throughout  the  colonics,  it  became  important  to  conciliate  the 
Catholics ;  and  both  parties,  whigs  and  tories,  vied  with  each 


*  Campbell's  Life  of  Archbisliop  Carroll— in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine, 
iii.  99. 
■j-  Campbell,  ed.  iii.  40. 


S6 


THE   CATnor.IC  CHURCH 


1 1. 


Ji 

1 

ll 

1 

i 

•  ;     '4 


other  in  omancMpntinj;  them.  The  convention  in  1774  innde  the 
following  np[K>al  to  tin;  p(^)|ile  : 

"As  onr  opjKwition  to  tho  settled  plan  of  the  Tlnti»li  adminis- 
tration to  enslave  America  will  l>e  strengthened  l»y  n  iniion  of  all 
ranks  of  men  within  this  province,  we  do  most  earnestly  recom- 
mend that  all  former  ditVerences  alK)ut  reii^non  or  politics,  and  all 
private  animosities  and  qnarrels  of  every  kind,  from  henceforth 
cease,  and  be  forever  hm'ied  in  oblivion;  and  wo  entreat,  ww  con- 
jure every  man  by  his  duty  to  God,  his  country,  and  his  jwsterity, 
cordially  to  unite  in  defence  of  onr  common  ri<»htft  and  lil^erties." 

The  act  emancii>ating  tho  Catholics  of  Maryland  followed  close 
on  this  appeal ;  but,  as  wo  have  seen,  it  was  wrested  from  tho 
party  in  power  by  the  critical  position  of  alfairs,  and  did  not 
spring  from  any  noble  motive.  This  should  never  l)e  forgotten 
Avhen  Protestants  boast  of  tho  toleration  which  tliey  allow  tho 
Church  in  the  United  States.* 


I:"  ^ ' 


I  1   ^^' 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    IlEPUBLIC. 

Mwylond— Father  John  Carroll— IIow  tlie  United  States  granted  liberty  of  consdeiice 
to  the  Catbollos— Mission  of  Father  Carroll  to  Canada. 

The  persecution  of  tho  Catholics  had  ceased  in  Maryland  with 
the  necessity  of  conciliating  them  in  the  struggle  for  indepen- 
dence ;  and  the  Declaration  of  Rights  voted  by  that  province  in 
1776,  by  article  33,  gi'anted  them  full  toleration  and  religious 

*  Cretineau  Joly's  account  in  his  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  is  quite 
inaccurate.  Ilenrion,  "HiBtoire  des  Missions  Catholiqnes,"  is  more  brier 
and  more  exact. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


37 


nth 

\ten- 

in 

lous 

luite 
Viei 


equality.  At  the  moinont  wlion  ('  itliolic.s  tliuH  obtaiiutd  n  tardy 
ju8ti(io,  there  were  in  the  wliole  extent  of  Mary  hind  twenty  .Je«uit«^ 
or  rather  ex-Jesuits,  for  the  society  had  been  suppresHcd  Hoino 
yenra  before.  IJut  tlie  Fathers  continued  to  live,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, in  the  sanie  way  as  thouijli  their  order  subsisted  in  all  its 
peifection ;  and  as  their  Superior  at  the  time  of  the  suppression, 
Father  Lewis  was  at  the  same  lime  \'iear-/^eneral  of  the  Vicar- 
apostolic  of  the  London  District,  which  j^ave  him  authority  over 
all  the  Catholic  clergy  in  the  United  States,  the  missionanes  con 
tinned  to  regard  him  as  their  head.  They  accordingly  recognized 
his  nght  to  receive  the  revenues  of  the  society's  property  and  di- 
vide it  among  the  Fathers  for  their  support. 

The  first  etl'ect  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics  was  the 
erection  of  churches  in  the  towns,  whereas  till  then  there  had 
only  been  chapels  in  the  rural  districts,  on  the  plantations  or  farms 
possessed  by  the  Jesuits,  'i'hus,  in  1774,  lialtiniore  was  only  a 
station  visited  once  a  month  by  a  Father  from  the  farm  at  White 
Marsh.  Mass  was  said  in  a  room  in  the  presence  of  some  forty 
Catholics,  mostly  French  people,  who  had  been  barbarously  and 
treacherously  dragged  oH'  from  Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia  in  175G. 
The  priest  took  with  liim  his  vestments  and  altar  plate,  for  the 
city  where  nine  councils  have  since  been  held,  did  not  then  pos- 
sess even  a  chalice  !  Father  John  Carroll  was  at  this  time  on  a 
fiirm  belonging  to  his  family  at  Rock  Creek,  ten  miles  from  the 
present  city  of  Washington.  lie  visited  the  Catholics  for  many 
miles  around,  and  as  lie  became  the  first  liishop  of  Baltimore  and 
t)f  the  Union,  we  shall  give  a  short  sketch  of  his  life. 

John  Carroll  was  born  in  1735,  at  Upper  Mai'lborough  in  Ma- 
ryland. His  father,  Daniel  Carroll,  a  native  of  Ireland,  had  pre- 
ferred the  confiscation  of  his  property  to  a  renunciation  of  his 
faith.  His  mother,  Eleanova  Darnall,  was  the  daughter  of  a  lich 
Maryland  planter,  who  had  secured  her  a  viery  careful  education 
in  a  French  convent.     She  availed  herself  of  it  to  direct  in  person 


38 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I 
I 


the  tuition  of  her  son  till  he  had  to  go  to  college.  The  laws 
strictly  prohibited  Catholics  from  having  schools,  but  the  Jesuits 
had  eluded  this  prohibition,  and  established  a  school  at  Bohemia 
Manor.  In  this  secluded  house  they  received  as  many  as  forty 
Bcholars  at  a  time.  Young  Carroll  attended  this  school  for  some 
years,  and  m  1748  set  out  for  PVance,  in  order  to  finish  his  studies 
with  the  Fathers  at  St.  Omers.  There  he  resolved  to  enter  a 
society,  so  identified  with  the  existence  of  Catholicity  in  Maryland, 
and  after  long  years  of  novitiate  and  study  at  Watten  and  Liege, 
he  was  ordained  in  1759  and  took  his  last  vows  in  1771. 

The  following  year.  Father  Carroll  travelled  over  many  parts  of 
Europe  as  tutor  of  the  son  of  Lord  Stourton ;  and  in  1773  re- 
paired to  Bruges,  where  the  English  Jesuits  had  gathered  on  the 
confiscation  of  St.  Omers  and  of  Watten,  by  a  decree  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris,  issued  in  August,  1762. 

In  this  city  the  Bull  reached  him,  Avhich,  under  the  title  of 
"  Dominus  ac  Redemptor,"  suppressed  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He 
then  retired  to  England,  where  he  became  chaplain  to  Lord  Arun- 
del; but  this  Hfe  did  not  suit  his  taste,  and  in  1774  he  returned 
to  ilaryland  to  devote  himself  to  the  care  of  his  Catholic  country- 
men. 

Father  John  Carroll  found  the  thirteen  American  colonies  pre- 
luding the  energetic  struggle  which  was  to  terminate  in  their  in- 
dependence. His  livelitest  sympathies  were  for  the  lievolutionary 
c^iuse,  for  he  saw  that  it  had  begun  in  Maiyland  by  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  Catholics,  and  there  was  ground  for  hope  that  the 
other  States  would  gradually  follow  the  example. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  United  States  as  a  governmenl 
proclaimed  liberty  of  worship  from  the  time  of  the  Confederation, 
and  that  this  fundamental  principle  is  an  integral  part  of  tho 
Constitution  which  binds  the  several  States  together.  It  was  not 
BO.  Religious  questions  have  at  all  times  been  considered  as 
questions  of  interior  administration,  falling  within  the  jurisdiction 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


39 


xy 


'T 


la 


I 


of  the  several  States,  and  the  only  mention  made  of  religion  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  third  section  of  Article 
VI. :  "  No  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  quahfication 
to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States ;"  and  one 
of  the  amendments  subsequently  passed,  which  says,  "  Congress 
shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  pro- 
hibiting the  free  exercise  thereof."  As  the  historian  of  Maryland 
justly  observes,  "  It  is  possible  that  instances  may  occiu"  where 
this  amendment  to  the  Constitution  may  bo  of  some  use ;  but  as 
Congress  seldom  has  occasion  to  legislate  on  subjects  of  religion, 
the  oppression  of  individuals  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  religious 
as  well  as  civil  rights,  is  most  generally  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  State  governments."*  And,  in  fact,  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  did  not  prevent  tlie  several  States  from  passing  laws 
to  establish  or  prohibit  any  religion,  in  their  discretion.  Still,  as 
we  have  said,  the  oiiginal  thirteen  States,  one  after  another, 
granted  to  the  Catholics  liberty  of  conscience,  but  many  of  them 
long  refused  the  Catholics  civil  and  political  rights.  Thus,  it  is 
only  since  1806  that  Catholics,  to  hold  office  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  have  been  dispensed  with  a  solemn  abjuration  of  all  obe- 
dience to  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  power.  Down  to  January  1,1836, 
to  be  an  elector  and  eligible  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  it  was 
necessary  to  swear  to  a  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion. In  New  Jersey,  a  clause  excluding  Catholics  from  all  offices 
was  abolished  only  in  1844.  And  even  now,  ei^^iity  years  after 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire 
still  excludes  Catholics  fi'om  every  office,  stubbornly  resisting  all 
the  petitions  presented  for  a  removal  of  this  stigma  from  their 
statute-book. 

As  to  the  States  founded  on  territory  ceded  by  France  or  Spain, 
Buch  as  Louisiana,  Florida,  Michigan,  Indiana,  or  severed  from 


on 


*  Bozmnn's  Maryland,  i.  291. 


40 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


P'  il 


i     ;><! 


W'i   i 


ii^ 


I 
■J 


Mexico,  like  Texas  and  California,  the  Catholics,  original  proprie- 
tors of  the  soil,  obtained,  by  the  act  of  cession,  the  free  enjoyment 
of  their  worship ;  and  there  is  on  the  side  of  Protestantism  mere 
justice,  but  no  generosity,  in  keeping  the  faith  of  treaties. 

Hear,  too,  how  Bishop  Carroll  himself,  soon  after  his  elevation 
to  the  Episcopacy,  rendered,  in  1790,  an  account  of  the  motives 
which  had  led  to  the  liberty  of  conscience  for  the  Catholics  of 
America : 

"  Having  renounced  subjection  to  England,  the  American 
States  found  it  necessary  to  form  new  constitutions  for  their  future 
government,  and  happily  a  free  toleration  of  religions  was  made  a 
fundamental  in  all  tfieir  new  constitutions,  and  in  many  of  them 
not  only  a  toleration  was  decreed,  but  likewise  a  perfect  equality 
of  civil  rights  to  persons  of  every  Christian  profession.  In  some, 
indeed,  the  yet  unextinguished  spirit  of  prejudice  and  intolerance 
excluded  Catholics  from  this  equality. 

"  Many  reasons  concurred  to  produce  this  happy  and  just  arti- 
cle in  the  new  constitutions.  First,  some  of  the  leading  charac- 
ters in  the  direction  of  American  councils  were  by  principle  averse 
to  all  religious  oppression,  and  having  been  much  acquainted 
■with  the  manners  and  doctrines  of  Roman  Catholics,  represented 
strongly  the  injustice  of  excluding  them  from  any  civil  right ; 
secondly.  Catholics  concurred  as  generally,  and  with  equal  zeal, 
in  repelling  that  oppression  which  first  produced  the  hostilities 
with  Great  Britain,  and  it  would  have  been  impolitic,  as  well  as 
unjust,  to  deprive  them  of  a  common  share  of  advantages  pur- 
chased with  common  danger  and  by  united  exertions ;  thirdly, 
the  assistance,  or  at  least  the  neutrality  of  Canada,  was  deemed 
necessary  to  the  success  of  the  United  States,  and  to  give  equal 
rights  to  Roman  Catholics  might  tend  to  dispose  the  Canadians 
favorably  towards  the  American  cause ;  lastly,  France  began  to 
show  a  disposition  to  befriend  the  United  States,  and  it  waa 
conceived  to  be  very  impolitic  to  disgust  that  powerful  king- 


IN   THE    UNITED   ST.yES. 


41 


dom  by  unjust  severities   against   the   religion  wliicli    it  pro- 
fessed."* 

It  was,  then,  political  reasons  which  induced  the  States  to  grant 
liberty  of  conscience  to  Catholics;  and  we  cannot  insist  too 
strongly  on  this  point  in  face  of  the  affirmations  of  European  Pro- 
testantism, which  incessantly  cites  the  example  of  the  United 
States  to  induce  men  to  believe  in  its  generosity  to  Catholics.  It 
gives  us  pleasure,  too,  to  state  that  France  exercised  a  twofold 
influence  in  arresting  the  oppression  of  American  Catholics :  first, 
by  the  desire  which  the  States  liad  of  conciliating  Louis  XVI. ; 
and  next,  by  their  prudent  resolve  not  to  shock  the  religious  feel- 
ings of  the  French  colonists  in  Canada.  At  the  period  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1776,  Canada  had  been  but  six- 
teen years  under  the  power  of  England,  and  as  it  had  so  long  and 
so  patriotically  resisted  the  English  arms,  the  recollection  of  the 
old  regime  would  naturally  be  still  fresh.  It  was  so,  indeed  ;  and 
the  United  States,  allies  of  France,  would  naturally  expect  aid 
from  Canada;  but  we  cannot  conceive  why  Louis  XVI.  made  no 
attempt  to  reconquer  Canada  for  himself,  for  this  would  have 
given  France  back  a  colony,  and  would  have  enabled  her  to  ren- 
der most  efficient  aid  to  the  United  States.  The  enterprise  would 
have  been  most  easy,  had  France  shown  a  more  prudent  or  less 
disinterested  policy.  The  Canadians,  placed  between  their  French 
brethren  and  their  new  masters,  would  not  have  hesitated  to 
throw  oflf  the  English  yoke ;  while,  solicited  merely  by  revolted 
colonies,  whose  old  hatred  against  themselves  and  their  faith  they 
knew  too  well,  they  refused  to  make  common  cause  with  the  lat- 
ter, and  England  found  in  the  French  and  Catholic  colony  left 
lier,  a  powerful  bulwark  against  the  United  States. 


I 


*  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  by  ihe  lute  B.  U.  Campbell,  Esq. 
(U.  S.  Catholic  Mufjjazinc,  iv.  251). 

Brent,  in  his  Life,  p.  OS,  cites  n  trnns^lation  of  a  French  translation,  whilo 
Mr.  Campbell  copied  the  archbishop's  original  letter. 


42 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


;i    '    i' 


"  Nothino-,"  says  a  Canadian  historian,  "  nothing  could  roase 
the  colonists  from  thoir  indiflerence.  The  fact  is,  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  their  sympathies  was  not  to  be  found  in  America. 
The  mere  sight  of  the  white  banner,  with  its  fleurs-de-lys,  would 
have  thrilled  every  fibre  of  those  apparently  apathetic  hearts."* 

The  Catholics  of  Maryland  had  all  resolutely  embraced  the 
side  of  American  independence.  They  had  already  gained  liberty 
of  worship.  They  had  sent  to  Congress  two  of  their  most  emi- 
nent men — Daniel  Carroll,  the  elder  brother  of  John,  and  Charles 
Carroll,  his  cousin.  They  now  looked  forward  to  an  aUiance  with 
Canada  as  a  means  of  gaining  to  their  Church  a  fair  share  in  the 
councils  of  the  Union.  An  American  army  had  already  in  1775 
tak(?n  Montreal  and  besieged  Quebec.  Though  repulsed  at  the 
latter  place,  they  kept  possession  of  Montreal,  always  hoping  that 
their  jirolonged  presence  would  lead  to  a  general  revolt  of  the 
Canadians  against  the  English.  To  hasten  this,  Congi'ess  dis- 
patched to  Canada  Franklin,  Charles  Carroll  and  Chase,  of  Ma- 
ryland, and  invited  Father  John  Carroll  to  join  them,  in  the  hopo 
that  he  would  exercise  some  iufluence  over  the  Catholic  clergy. 

The  delegates  left  New  York  on  the  2d  of  April,  1776,  but 
with  all  their  dispatch,  reached  Montreal  only  on  the  29th.  (Wo 
incidentally  mention  the  length  of  this  journey,  which  we  have 
made  between  sunrise  and  sunset.)  Franklin  assembled  the  prin- 
cipal colonists,  while  Father  Carroll  endeavored  to  enter  into  cor- 
respondence with  the  clergy;  but  neither  found  his  advances 
welcomed  as  he  had  expected,  and  on  the  13th  of  May  they  set 
out  together  for  New  York.  Franklin  having  fallen  sick  on  the 
way,  his  fellow-traveller  nursed  him  with  truo  devotedness ;  and 
during  this  embassy,  the  priest  and  the  philosopher  contracted  a 
sincere  friendship,  as  Ave  find  from  the  grateful  letters  of  Frankhn: 

*  Ilistoire  dii  Canadn,  par  F.  X.  Gnrneau  (Quebec,  1852),  ii.  430.  "Tho 
English  flag  nor  the  American  flag  is  the  flag  of  'ours,'"  the  Canadian* 
would  say,  in  their  quaint  but  toucliing  language. 


i  'A 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


43 


"  As  to  myself,  T  grew  daily  more  feeble,  and  I  think  I  could 
hardly  have  got  along  so  far,  but  for  Mr.  Carroll's  friendly  assist- 
ance and  tender  care  of  me."* 

We  shall  hereafter  find  Franklin  not  foi-getful  of  his  kind  in- 
firmarian,  when  it  was  proposed  to  appoint  a  bishop  for  the 
United  States. 

Congress  had  voted  an  address  to  the  Canadians,  which  con- 
tained these  words  :  "  We  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  liberty 
of  sentiment  distinguishing  your  nation  to  imagine  that  difference 
of  religion  will  prejudice  you  against  a  hearty  amity  with  us. 
You  know  that  the  transcendent  nature  of  freedom  elevates  those 
who  unite  in  her  cause  above  all  such  low-minded  infirmities. 
The  Swiss  cantons  furnish  a  memorable  proof  of  this  truth.  Their 
Union  is  composed  of  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  States, 
living  in  the  utmost  concord  and  peace  with  one  another,  and 
thereby  enabled,  ever  since  they  bravely  vindicated  their  freedom, 
to  defy  and  defeat  every  tyrant  that  has  invaded  them."f 

These  words,  however,  inspired  the  Canadians  with  little  confi- 
dence, when  they  saw  the  same  Congi'ess  address  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  in  October,  1774,  complaining  that  the  Quebec  Act 
liad  granted  religious  libei'ty  in  Canada : 

*'  Nor  can  we  suppress  our  astonishment  that  a  British  Parlia- 
ment should  ever  consent  to  establish  in  that  country  a  religion 
that  has  deluged  your  island  in  blood,  and  dispersed  impiety, 
bigotry,  persecution,  murder,  and  rebellion  through  every  part  of 
the  world." 

On  the  conquest  of  Canada  by  England,  the  country  was  for 
some  years  under  the  iron  rule  of  martial  law,  and  religion  was 
fettered  in  a  thousand  ways,  while  every  favor  Avas  shown  to  in- 
vading Protestantism.     vVt  the  sight  of  the  agitation  in  New 


*  Franklin's  Works,  viii.  l.V}.. 

t"  Address  to  the  luliabitanls  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,"  cited  by 
'■'ampbell. 


I 


h 

i 

; 

i          1 

i    ' 

i      ! 

li  i 

ill;  1 4 


44 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


England,  tlie  home  government  felt  tlie  necessity  of  attaching 
Canada  by  concessions,  and  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774  restored  to 
the  Canadians  their  French  law,  and  redintegrated  the  Catholic 
worship  in  all  its  lights.  To  the  Americans  and  their  friends  in 
England,  this  act  was  a  plan  to  raise  a  Catholic  army  in  Canada  for 
their  subjugation ;  their  hostility  to  it  was  bitter,  and  necessarily 
predisposed  the  Canadians  against  them.  As  Mr.  Garneau  says: 
.  "  The  language  of  Congress  would  have  been  fanatical,  if  thoso 
who  employed  it  had  been  serious.  It  was  foolish  and  puerile  in 
the  mouths  of  those  who  were  about  to  invite  the  Canadians  to 
join  their  cause,  in  order  side  by  side  to  give  America  her  inde- 
pendence. This  avowal,  then,  as  to  the  act  of  1774,  was  incon- 
siderate ;  it  did  no  good  in  England,  and  alienated  Canada  from 
tlie  cause  of  the  confederates."* 

In  order  to  justify  Father  John  Carroll's  course  at  Montreal, 
we  must  say  that,  as  his  historian  very  particularly  insists,  he 
merely  preached  neutrality  to  the  Canadians.f  The  Catholics  of 
Maryland,  scarcely  yet  in  possession  of  liberty  of  conscience,  natu- 
rally desired  to  have  as  friends  their  Canadian  brethren  in  the 
faith.  They  feared  that  if  the  Canadians  took  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  the  ftmaticism  of  the  Protestants,  just  lulled  for 
a  time,  would  awaken  with  new  fury  against  them.  Father  Car- 
roll's mission  was  therefore  religious  in  its  object.  But  it  could 
not  be  so  regarded  in  Canada,  and  the  loyal  Breton  bishop  who 
then  occupied  the  See  of  Quebec,  Mouseigneur  Oliver  Briand,  for- 
bid his  clergy  to  have  any  intercourse  with  the  ecclesiastic  en- 
voy of  Congress,  whom  he  nevertheless  highly  respected,  and,  as  we 
shall  see,  congratulated  most  warmly  on  his  subsequent  elevation 
to  the  Episcopacy.  In  the  extraordinary  history  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  the  case  of  this  Jesuit,  ambassador  from  a  Congress  of  Re- 
publican Protestants,  is  not  the  least  remarkable  episode ;  and 


*  Ilistoire  dii  Canadii,  ii.  422. 

t  Eio{,'rnphical  Sketch  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  40. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


45 


Re- 

and 


while  the  democrats  of  every  cUmo  reproach  the  children  of  St. 
Ignatius  with  being  the  tools  of  despotic  power,  they  can  offer 
Father  John  CaiToll  as  a  sincere  patriot,  a  zealous  partisan  of  lib- 
erty, and  one  of  the  real  founders  of  American  independence. 

Note.— In  order  to  prove  that  Catholics  in  the  United  States  owe  the  en- 
joyment of  civil  and  political  rights  to  liappy  circumstances,  and  not  to  the 
generosity  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  we  liavc  been  at  some  pains  to  draw 
up  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  period  when  the  several  States  ceased 
to  admit  the  exclusive  eligibility  of  Protestants.  Ti  is  work,  never  before 
done,  has  co^t  us  some  trouble ;  but  we  deem  it  usclul,  in  order  to  expose 
the  fallacy  of  the  wide-spread  idea  that  the  emancipation  of  Catholics  is  due 
to  the  Congress  of  1776.  It  will  bo  observed,  too,  that  in  several  States  a 
man  must  believe  either  in  God  or  in  tlio  Christian  religion,  or  at  least  in  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment,  to  be  eligible  to  offleo.  This  is  far 
from  that  unbridled  liberty  which  is  supposed  to  reign  throughout  tlie  States. 
The  article  guaranteeing  liberty  of  conscience  is  generally  in  these  terms : 
"The  profession  and  free  exercise  of  every  religious  creed  and  form  of  wor- 
ship is  and  shall  be  permitted  to  all;  but  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
guaranteed  shall  not  be  extended  to  excuse  acts  of  licentiousness  or  practices 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State." 

In  the  following  list,  the  States  marked  +  were  colonized  by  Franco  or 
Spain,  and  the  free  exercise  of  the  Catiiolic  religion  is  guaranteed  by  treaty. 

United  States — Founded  1776 — Constitution  1787. — The  Declaration  of 
Independence  in  1776,  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation  in  1778.  The  Con- 
stitution of  1787  merely  provides  that  no  religious  test  shall  be  required  from 
any  officer  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  the  first  amendment  ratified  in 
17ltl  says:  "Congress  shall  pass  no  law  concerning  the  establishment  of  a 
religion  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

Massachuseits — 1776 — Constitution  1779-80. — Liberty  of  conscience.  The 
Legislature  may  levy  a  tax  to  support  the  Protestant  worship,  whore  not  vol- 
untarily given.  Every  one  must,  to  hold  office,  abjure  under  oath  all  obodi- 
ciico  to  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  power.    This  oath  was  modified  in  1821. 

New  Hampshire — 1776 — Constitution  1792. — Liberty  of  conscience.  But 
the  ineligibility  of  Catholics,  established  prior  to  the  devolution  by  theKoyal 
Charter,  has  still  tlie  force  of  law. 

Rhode  Island— 1776— Charter  1663,  and  Constitution  1842,  grant  full  lib- 
erty of  conscience  without  any  test.    Penal  laws  repealed  1778. 

CoNNKCTicuT — 1776 — Couslitulioii  1818. — Liberty  of  conscience.  No  rc- 
Btriction  as  to  Catholics. 

New  Youk — 1776 — Constitution  1777. — Liberty  of  conscience.  But  for- 
eigners, to  be  naturali/ed,  must  abjure  all  foreign  allegiance,  temporal  and 
spiritual.     A  test  oath  was  also  passed,  and  remained  in  force  till  1806. 

New  Jersey— 1776— Constitution  1776. — Liberty  of  conscience.  No  Pro- 
testant inhabitant  shall  be  deprived  of  his  civil  and  political  rights.  Tho 
new  Constitution  in  IPil  suppressed  this  clause. 


I  -■  " 


I  t  I 


li 


i 


46  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 

Delaware— 1776~Conatitution  1T76  and  1831.— Liberty  of  conacicnce. 
No  teat. 

rKNN8YLVANiA— 1776— Constitution  1790.— Liberty  of  conaciencc.  No 
ninn  who  believes  in  God  and  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment 
shull  be  excluded  from  olHee. 

Mauyland— 1776 — Constitution  1776. — No  test,  except  a  declnrution  of  be- 
lief in  tlie  Christian  religion.  Every  one  professing  the  Christian  religion 
shull  be  froc  to  practise  it. 

Virginia— 177G— Constitution  1776.— Liberty  of  conscience  1830.    No  test. 

North  Carolina— 1776— Constitution  1776.— Every  man  who  shall  deny 
the  existence  of  God,  or  the  truths  of  the  Protestant  religion,  or  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  shall  not  hold  any  office  in  the 
State.    The  Constitution  of  1835  substituted  Christian  for  Protestant. 

South  Carolina— 1776— Constitution  1790.— Free  exercise  of  religion  to 
all  mankind. 

Georgia— 1776— Conatitution  1798.— Liberty  of  conscience.  No  person 
blmil  be  molested  in  his  civil  rights  purely  for  religious  principle. 

Vermont— 1791— Constitution  1793.— No  test.  Every  sect  laound  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  and  have  some  worship. 

Tennessee — 1796 — Constitution  1796. — No  man  can  hold  office  that  denies 
the  existence  of  God  or  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment. 

Kentucky — 1799 — Constitution  1799. — Liberty  of  conscience.     No  test. 

Ohio — 1802 — Constitution  1802. — Liberty  of  conscience.     No  test. 

+  Louisiana— 1812--Constitution  1812. — No  article  on  religion.  Clergymen 
excluded  from  office. 

•f-  Indiana— 1816. 

t  Mississippi — 1817. 

+  Illinois — 1818. 

t  Alabama— 1820. 
Maine— 1820. 

Missouri — 1821 — Constitution  1820. 
Arkans^vs — 1836. 
Michigan— 1836. 

rLORiDA—1845— Constitution  1888. 
Tr;xAS— 1845. 


Iowa— 1846. 
Wisconsin- 1848. 
C  ALIFORN  lA — 1 849. 


Liberty  of  conscience,    Nc  test. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


At 


jiice. 

No 
laient 

ifbe- 
igion 

I  teat, 
deny 
ivine 
a  the 

on  to 

lerson 
keep 
lenies 
:bt. 
;ymeu 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    CHURCH    DURING    THE    REVOLUTION. 
Father  Carroll  and  Father  Floquet— Father  Carroll  at  Rock  Creek. 

We  have  thus  traced  to  its  close  the  embassy  of  Carroll  to  Can- 
ada. One  episode  connected  with  it  may  not  be  uninteresting. 
The  Bishop  of  Quebec  had,  as  we  have  seen,  forbid  his  clergy  to 
have  any  intercourse  with  Father  Carroll.  One  of  the  priests  of 
Montreal,  for  a  supposed  infringement  of  this  order,  was  suspended 
and  summoned  to  Quebec.  His  letters  to  Monseigneur  Briand 
throw  considerable  light  on  the  public  feeling  in  Canada  at  the 
time,  and  on  the  mission  of  Father  Carroll. 

Father  Peter  R.  Floquet  had  been  twice  Superior  of  the  Jesuits 
in  Canada.  Although  a  native  of  France,  he  continued  to  reside 
in  Canada  after  the  conquest,  and  offended  the  government  by 
speaking  in  favor  of  the  American  colonies. 

"  I  was  complaisant  to  the  Americans  out  of  human  respect," 
says  he,  in  a  letter  to  the  bishop  on  the  15th  of  June,  17*76 ;  "if 
I  had  been  as  violent  against  them  as  many  others  were,  the 
whole  brunt  of  the  storai  would  have  fallen  on  my  head,  as  I  was 
the  only  Jesuit  at  Montreal.  I  would  have  served  as  an  example 
to  others,  and  perhaps  have  occasioned  a  persecution  of  my  con- 
freres in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 

"After  the  flight  of  the  king's  generals,  the  Montreal  deputies 
promised  the  Americans  a  true  or  a  false  and  deceptive  neutrality. 
I  believed  it  true  and  to  be  kept.  I  kept  it,  and  advised  others  to 
do  so ;  this  made  me  tolerant  to  both  parties  in  the  tribunal  of 
penance. 


48 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


:!   ^ 


"The  American  Colonel  llazon  commanded  fur  some  time  at 
Montreal,  lie  restored  to  mo  the  part  of  our  house  which  Mr. 
Afurray  had  turned  into  a  prison.  I  enjoyed  this  favor,  which  I 
liad  not  sought,  and  I  thanked  the  author  of  it.  Mr.  llazen  sent 
mo  a  written  invitation  to  dinner.  I  dined  with  him  once,  accom- 
panied by  an  Irish  royalist  priest  who  lived  with  me,  and  who 
had  been  previously  intimate  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ilazcn. 

"Towards  the  close  of  the  winter,  the  Americans  raised  two 
companies  of  Canadian  militia,  Lieber  and  Oliver.  The  new  re- 
cruits were  on  garrison  duty  at  Montreal  when  the  paschal  season 
opened.  On  being  asked  to  hear  their  confessions,  I  consented  to 
receive  them,  if  I  could  be  assured  that  they  would  not  go  to  be- 
siege Quebec,  and  would  merely  do  service  peacefully  at  Montreal. 
On  Mr.  Oliver's  assuring  me  of  this,  I  yielded.  On  Easter  Tues- 
day, after  dinner,  I  began  to  hear  the  least  bad,  but  was  far  from 
approving  them.  Those  who  got  leave  to  receive  went  among 
the  crowd  to  the  parish  church  until  Low  Sunday  inclusively. 

"  On  Tuesday  after  Low  Sunday,  three  tardy  militia-men  I'e- 
ceived  absolution  from  me,  and  presented  themselves  at  the  parish 
church.  They  were  publicly  repulsed.  I  confessed  and  commu- 
nicated them  januis  clausis. 

"  In  truth,  in  conscience,  and  before  God,  am  I  an  American,  a 
rebel,  or  have  I  been  ?  No,  Monseigneur !  Last  fall,  when  they 
were  assembling  at  Montreal  the  habitans  of  good  will  for  an  ex- 
pedition which  failed,  no  one  received  them  better,  confessed  and 
communicated  more,  than  I  did.  I  told  those  who  consulted  me 
that  they  did  well  to  volunteer  for  the  king's  service,  and  that 
those  who  resisted  the  orders  did  wronij.  I  have  never  ceased 
chanting  the  '  Domine  Salvum'  and  the  prayer  for  the  king  at 
Benediction. 

"  A  Father  Carroll,  a  missionary  from  Maryland,  having  come 
to  Montreal  with  two  deputies  of  Congi'ess,  presented  a  letter  of 
introduction  from  Father  Farmer,  the  first  missionary  at  Philadel- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


49 


an,  a 

hey 

ex- 

and 

rl  me 

that 

ased 

ig  at 


phia.  The  Seminary  saw  this  loiter,  which  contained  nothing 
umiKi).  Still  I  (lid  not  answer  it.  Father  Carroll  did  not  lodge 
with  me,  and  dined  with  me  but  once,  lie  said  Mass  in  cup 
house,  by  M.  Montgolfier's  permission. 

"  I  have  said  nothing,  written  nothing,  done  nothing  for  the 
service  of  Congress  or  the  United  Colonics.  I  received  nothing 
from  them  hut  our  own  house  in  a  very  dilapidated  state."* 

Both  sought,  with  equal  good  faith,  the  advantage  of  religion; 
but  the  maze  of  politics  made  it  very  difficult  to  see  what  was 
most  beneficial  to  the  Church,  either  at  the  moment  or  in  future. 
The  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  every  reason  to  distrust  a  nation  in 
revolt,  distinguished  till  then  only  for  its  hostility  to  Catholics. 
Father  Floquet  had  reason  to  fear  that  too  avowed  an  opposition 
to  the  Americans  might  draw  dv/\vn  a  persecution  on  the  mission- 
aries in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  Father  John  Carroll  was 
right  in  seeking  to  gain  the  neutrality  of  the  Canadians.  The 
most  curious  part  of  the  whole  affair  is,  to  see  the  American 
colonel  restoring  to  the  Jesuits  their  house  in  Montreal,  of  which 
the  English  governor  had  deprived  them,  and  inviting  the  rever- 
end fathers  to  dinner. 

That  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  no  motive  but  prudence,  wo 
shall  see  hereafter,  when  we  speak  of  Father  Carroll's  elevation  to 
the  episcopacy. 

On  his  return  from  Canada,  Father  John  Carroll  (for  we  now 

*  Archives  of  the  Archbishopric  of  Quehec.  Of  this  clergyman,  Mr.  Nor- 
Bcux,  in  his  "  Abrege  Chronologique  et  historique  des  pretres  qui  ont  des- 
pervi  le  Cnnada,"  says :  "  Father  Peter  R.  Floquet,  a  native  of  Chatillon  in 
Champagne,  arrived  at  Quebec  in  1740.  After  having  been  several  times 
Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  both  at  Montreal  and  at  Quebec,  ho  was  recalled  to 
Quebec  in  Jan.  1777.  Having  written  a  very  touching  submission  to  tho 
bishop  on  the  29th  of  November,  1776,  he  was  relieved  from  the  interdict. 
Having  become  blind  in  1779,  he  died  at  his  convent  on  the  18th  of  July, 
1782,  at  tho  age  of  seventy-seven."  This  writer  is,  however,  too  inaccurate 
for  us  to  rely  entirely  on  his  dates  and  fact;8. 

3 


00 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHUUCH 


I  ti  It 


I': 


\4 


i  1 


'ii . 


resume  his  history)  took  u}>  his  rcsidcnco  with  his  mother  at  Rock 
Creek,  where  he  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  Kevohitiouary 
War,  making  it  the  centre  of  a  vast  mission,  to  which  he  devoted 
himself  with  zoah  His  mother's  advanced  ago  made  him  loth  to 
leave  her,  and  rather  than  bo  separated  from  her,  he  gave  uj)  his 
share  in  the  distribution  of  the  revenues  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in 
Maryland. 

We  have  remarked  that  tlio  Society  of  Jesus,  notwithstanding 
the  bull  of  dissolution  in  1773,  had  (continued  to  act  in  Maryland 
under  their  constitutions.  Father  Lewis  was  then  Superior,  and  re- 
cognized as  such  ;  but  whether  they  were  bound  to  obey  his  orders 
as  to  residence,  was  an  open  question.  Father  Carroll  thought 
not.  In  1779  he  wrote :  "I  have  care  of  a  very  large  congrega- 
tion— have  often  to  ride  twenty-five  or  tliirty  miles  to  the  sick ; 
besides  which,  I  go  once  a  month  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles  to 
another  congregation  in  Virginia ;  yet,  because  I  live  with  my 
mother,  for  whose  sake  alone  I  sacrificed  the  very  best  place  in 
England,  and  told  Mr.  Lewis  that  I  did  not  choose  to  be  subject 
to  be  removed  from  place  to  place,  now  that  we  had  no  longer 
the  vow  of  obedience  to  entitle  us  to  the  merit  of  it,  lie  does  not 
choose  to  bear  any  part  of  my  expenses.  I  do  not  mention  thia 
by  way  of  complaint,  as  I  am  perfectly  easy  at  present."* 

In  another  letter,  of  February  20th,  1782,  to  his  friend  Father 
Plowden,  Father  Carroll  sets  forth  the  difficulties  which  this  pro- 
longed subjection  might  create :  "  The  clergymen  here  continue 
to  live  in  the  old  form ;  it  is  the  effect  of  habit,  and  if  they  could 
promise  themselves  immortality,  it  would  be  well  enough  ;  but  I 
regret  that  indolence  prevents  any  form  of  administration  being 
adopted  which  might  tend  to  secure  posterity  a  succession  of 
Catholic  clergymen,  and  secure  to  them  a  comfortable  subsistence, 
I  said  that  the  former  system  of  administration,  that  is,  '  every 


*  Cited  by  Campbell  in  hia  Life  of  Archbishop  Carroll, 
Magazine,  iii.  365. 


U.  S.  Catholio 


IN  TIIK   UNITED  STATES. 


61 


•"atlier 

IS  pro- 

ntiniie 

could 

l)Ut  I 

being 

iion  of 

stence, 

"'  every 

^atholio 


tiling  IxMiig  in  (ho  powiT  ot'n  Suptifior,'  coiitiiiuod  ;  Imt  nil  flioso 
checks  upon  him,  ho  wisely  provided  by  our  former  couBtitutioiis, 
are  at  an  end."* 

The  enemies  of  the  Jesuits  have  often  reproached  them  for  not 
dispersing  and  actually  persecuting  themselves,  on  learning  the 
lirief  of  Suppression.  To  believe  these  zealous  defenders  of  the 
rights  of  the  Holy  See,  tidelity  to  the  rule  of  St.  Ignatius,  -when 
uo  harm  resulted  to  the  Cniureh,  was  a  contempt  of  the  supremo 
authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontift'.  To  these  severe  foi'malists, 
Father  Carroll's  conduct  will  seem  a  proof  of  orthodoxy ;  and  as 
to  the  friends  of  the  Society,  they  will  readily  admit  thai  the  ab- 
solute authority  of  a  local  Superior  might  lead  to  serious  abuse, 
when  it  was  no  longer  controlled  by  tliat  of  the  General  and  by 
the  guarantees  with  which  the  constitutions  of  the  Society  have 
always  invested  each  member. 

The  life  of  Father  John  Carroll  has  few  traits  of  resemblance 
with  the  portraits  traced  by  some  historians,  and  'n  fact,  to  suc- 
ceed in  writing  any* thing  correct  as  to  the  '  .ory  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States,  we  have  been  com]'<'U«.'<i  to  forgot  what  little 
has  been  published  in  France  on  this  score,  and  confine  ourselves 
to  such  materials  as  we  could  gather  ul  the  United  States;  other- 
wise we  should  merely  be  repeating  a  series  of  errors  confidently 
copied  by  one  after  another.f 

*  Id.  3()9. 

t  For  example,  Crctincaii  Joly  says :  "At  the  moment  wlioii  the  Society 
was  abolished  by  Clement  XIV.,  some  Jesuits  abandoned  Great  Britain  to 
retire  to  North  America,  their  native  land,  where  there  never  had  been  any 
priests  but  themselves.  John  Carroll  was  their  leader.  Eound  to  the  Insti- 
tute by  the  profession  of  the  lour  vows,  Carroll  soon  won  the  esteem  of  that 
immortal  generation  which  was  preparing  in  silence  the  freedom  of  the  land. 
He  was  the  friend  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  the  counsel  of  that  Carroll, 
bis  brother,  who  labored  so  efficaciously  in  forming  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  Stales.  The  learning  and  foresight  of  the  Jesuit  were  appreciated 
by  the  founders  of  American  liberty.  They  invited  him  to  sign  the  Act  of 
Confederation.  Attached  to  the  Protestant  worship,  tliey  were  about  to 
consecrate  its  triumph  by  law ;  but  Catholicity,  in  the  person  of  the  Fatheri* 


I  l( ; 


I'i 


m 


52 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Even  Baron  Ilenrion  states  tliat  the  Maryland  clergy,  with  the 
consent  of  Congress,  expressed  to  Pope  Pius  VI.  their  desire  to 
have  a  bishop  in  the  United  States,*  and  Rohrbacher  makes  Con- 
gress urge  tlie  Pope  to  gratify  their  wishes.f  Nothing  can  be 
further  from  the  real  state  of  affairs.  Tlie  fact  is,  that  when  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  was  accomplished,  the  ex- 
Jesuits  in  Maryland  wished  to  bo  no  longer  dependent  on  a  Vicar- 
n})ostolic  in  England,  in  order  to  give  no  umbrage  to  the  new 


of  the  Society,  appeared  to  them  so  tolerant  and  so  well  fitted  for  civilizing 
the  Indiana,  that  they  could  not  refuse  John  Carroll  the  establishment  of 
the  principle  of  religions  independence.  Carroll  was  admitted  to  discuss  tho 
basis  of  it  with  thein.  He  laid  it  down  so  clearly,  that  freedom  of  worship 
lias  never  lieen  infringed  in  the  United  States.  The  Americans  bound  them- 
selves to  maintain  it;  nor  did  they  feel  at  liberty  to  betray  their  oath,  even 
when  they  saw  the  extension  given  by  the  missionaries  to  the  Koman  faith." 
— IJistoire  de  la  Compagnie  do  Jesus,  8d  ed.  vi.  276.  This  paragraph  con- 
tains almost  as  many  errors  as  words.  To  make  the  Jesuits  the  only  priests 
in  North  America  is  strange  indeed,  when  it  is  not  trne  even  of  Maryland. 
Father  Carroll  came  alone  and  brought  none  with  him.  He  was  not  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Washington — at  least,  we  find  no  proof  of  his  ever  having 
been  intimate  with  him.  In  1800,  Carroll,  then  bishop  of  Baltimore,  de- 
livered a  funeral  oration  on  Washington,  but  nowhere  alludes,  as  he  would 
naturally  do,  to  any  personal  intimacy.  His  friendship  with  Franklin  was 
indeed  real,  but  it  is  an  error  to  make  him  a  signer  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation. Charles  Carroll  signed  tlie  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
Daniel  Carroll,  a  brother  of  the  bishop,  signed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  Father  Carroll  could  not  have  spoken  before  the  Congress  or  the 
Convention  on  the  topic  of  religious  freedom,  for  it  was  not  raised,  is  not 
guaranteed  in  the  Constitution,  and  is  only  mentioned  in  the  amendments 
subsequently  adopted,  by  which  eacli  State  reserves  to  itself  the  right  to 
legislate  on  the  point.  This  error  is  repeated  in  tho  /  -  Ics  de  la  Propaga- 
tion do  la  Foi,  vol.  xxii.  p.  305.  What  Mr.  Cretincau  doly  means  by  saying 
that  Congress  was  about  to  consecrate  by  law  the  triumph  of  Protestantism, 
it  would  be  hard  to  say  :  the  silence  of  the  Constitution  on  the  subject  has 
destroyed  the  preponderance  of  Protestantism.  Congress  took  no  steps 
towards  civilizing  the  Indians,  and  could  not  have  made  that  a  motive  for 
any  step ;  and  as  to  the  assertion  that  liberty  of  worship  has  never  been  in- 
fringed in  tiio  United  States,  wo  deny  tho  hardy  assertion  and  appeal  to 
history. 

*  Ilistoire  Generalc  des  Missions  Catholiques,  ii.  602,  where  ho  makes 
Carroll  Vicar-general  of  the  Vicar-apostolic  of  London. 

•f  liohrbacher,  Histoire  Uuiverselle  de  I'Eglise  Catholique,  xxvii.  279. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


53 


ken  m- 
Ual  to 

amke» 


political  organization  in  America.  They  accordiegly  addressed  a 
memorial  to  the  Holy  See  on  the  6th  of  November,  1*783,  to  co- 
licit  the  nomination  of  a  Superior  in  spiritualibus,  to  ho  chosen 
from  among  themselves.  But  far  from  asking  the  erection  of  a 
See  at  Baltimore,  the  ^Maryland  missionaries  thought  it  not  desira- 
ble for  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  we  may  even  say  that 
they  dreaded  the  sending  of  a  Vicar-apostolic. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  must  not  bo  forgotten  that 
the  Cardinal  of  York  then  exercised  at  Rome  an  often  preponder- 
ating influence  in  the  choice  of  Vicars-apostolic  for  Eugland. 
The  high  birth  of  the  royal  cardinal  enabled  him  indeed  to  exer- 
cise a  great  control  in  the  religious  affairs  of  the  three  kingdoms ; 
and  his  hostility  to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Avhich  hud  led  him  to 
seize  their  house  at  Frascati  the  very  day  after  their  suppression, 
was  a  secret  to  none.  The  Vicars-apostolic  in  England  named 
in  such  circumstances  had  frequent  disputes  Avith  the  ex-Jesuits  in 
England.  Those  in  Maryland  might  reasonably  fear  that  the  arrival 
of  a  prelate,  a  creature,  in  all  probability,  of  the  Cardinal  of  York, 
would  only  bring  trouble  and  confusion.  Besides  this,  the  po\'- 
erty  of  their  missions,  and  the  petty  number  of  American  Catlio 
lies,  made  them  believe  the  faithful  unable  to  support  a  bishop 
with  dignity.  They  wished  first  to  recruit  a  more  numerous 
clergy,  in  order  to  provide  the  scattered  Catholics  with  pastors, 
now  that  their  religious  worsliip  was  no  longer  proscribed. 

The  number  of  Catholics  in  1*783  might  amount  in  Maryland 
to  sixteen  thousand  souls,  chiefly  farmers  and  planters  in  tlie 
rural  districts.  In  Pennsylvania  there  were  about  seven  thousand, 
and  in  the  other  States  about  fifteen  hundred.*  This  computa- 
tion did  not  include  the  French  Canadians  in  the  countjy  on  (ho 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  which  had  been  surrendered  to  the  United 
States  by  the  treaiy  of  1*783.     The  white  inhabitants  of  tJiis  tor- 

*  This  is  Bishop  Carroll's  calculation.    See  Biographical  Sketch,  p.  7o. 


\m 


64 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ritory  were  all  Catholics,  and  amounted  probably  to  four  thou- 
sand ;  but  they  were  still  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,-  and  the  Maryland  missionaries  had  no  connection  with 
them.  The  march  of  Rochambeau's  army  through  several  States, 
where  Mass  had  never  before  been  said,  brought  to  light  Catho- 
lics in  many  places  where  they  were  not  known  to  exist ;  and  the 
army  chaplains  were  often  surrounded  by  the  descendants  of 
Irishmen  or  Acadians,  who  now  saw  a  priest  for  the  first  lime, 
and  implored  them  to  stay.*  It  became  urgent  to  furnish  spir- 
itual succor  to  these  forsaken  Catholics. 


I  a: 


f  ■' 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    REPUBLIC. 
Maryland  (17T6-1790)— Negotiations  for  the  orection  of  an  Episcopal  See. 

Father  Lewis,  Vicar-general  of  Maryland,  called  a  general 
meeting  of  all  the  missionaries  to  deliberate  on  the  state  of  reli- 
gion, and  two  meetings  for  this  purpose  were  held  at  Whitemarsh 
on  the  27th  of  June  and  6th  of  November,  1783.  It  was  at  the 
latter  meeting  that  the  memorial  to  the  Sacred  Congregation  "  de 
propaganda  fide,"  already  mentioned,  was  signed.     A  committee 

*  One  of  these  chaplains  wrote  an  account  of  his  travels:  "Nonveau 
Voyage  dans  I'Amerique  Septentrionale  en  1781  et  cainpn^ne  do  I'arniio  du 
Comte  de  Rochambeau,  par  I'Abb^  Robin,  Philadelphie  et  Paris,  1782."  The 
author  shows  himself  unfortunately  imbued  with  some  of  the  philosophical 
ideas  of  the  time,  and  instead  of  displaying  zeal  for  the  destitute  Catliolics, 
indulges  in  a  dull  enthusiasm  for  the  Revolution.  We  had  expected  to  find 
in  this  rare  work  some  interesting  details,  ])ut  meet  only  superficial  observa- 
tions. He  officiated  at  Baltimore  to  the  great  joy,  ho  says,  of  the  Acadluijr, 
there,  then  chiefly  sailors. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


55 


was  also  appointed  to  draw  up  a  regulation  "  to  establish  a  form 
of  government  for  the  clergy,  and  lay  down  rules  for  the  adminis- 
tration, and  government  of  their  property."  This  regulation,  in 
eighteen  articles,  adopted  by  the  missionaries  on  the  11th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1784,  established  a  general  chapter  and  district  chapters, 
appointed  a  Procurator  distinct  from  the  Superior  in  spiritualibus, 
subjecting  the  latter's  measures  to  the  approval  of  the  district 
chapters.  These  arrangements,  taken  without  any  canonical  au- 
thority, could  of  course  be  only  provisional,  and  Father  Farmer, 
one  of  the  missionaries,  thus  speaks  of  them  in  a  letter  to  Father 
Carroll,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1785: 

"  I  cannot  conceive  how  ve  could  bo  a  body  without  a  bishop 
for  a  head.  We  may  have  a  voluntary  union  among  ourselves,  I 
allow,  but  it  cannot  constii  .  "a  canonical  body  of  clergy,  un- 
less declared  and  appointee  .  .^  such  either  by  the  Supreme  Pas- 
tor, or  rather  by  a  bishop  set  over  us  by  him.  Our  association, 
even  in  temporalibus,  I  am  afraid,  will  be  looked  upon  rather  as 
a  combination."* 

It  was  evident  that  some  germs  of  independence  were  develop- 
ing in  the  Maryland  clergy,  in  contact  with  the  spirit  of  political 
and  religious  rebellion  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  American 
character.  But  the  Holy  See  watched  with  paternal  solicitude 
over  the  rising  Church  of  America,  and  on  beholding  the  princi- 
ples of  toleration  for  Catholicity,  which  Protestantism  now  first 
acknowledged  in  the  United  States,  Rome  at  once  saw  the  pre- 
cious advantage  to  be  gained  for  religion.  The  Holy  See  imme- 
diately thought  of  establishing  the  Church  in  Maryland  on  a 
more  independent  base,  and  of  releasing  it  from  all  spiritual 
subordination  to  England.  It  thus  anticipated  the  wishes  of  the 
missionaries  assembled  at  Whitemarsh ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
showing  a  sincere  deference  for  the  government  of  the  United 


*  Campbell  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  800. 


^1 


11'  ■ 


m 


T    ■      i' 


56 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


States,  transmitted  through  Monseigncur  Dovia,  archbishop  of  Se- 
leucia  and  nuncio  at  the  court  of  Paris,  the  following  note  to  Dr. 
Franklin,  then  American  minister  .  _  Paris : 

"The   Nuncio-apostolic  has  the  honor   to   transmit   to  Mr. 
Franklin  the  subjoined  note,     lie  r.  quests  him  to  cause  it  to  be 
presented  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
and  to  support  it  with  his  influence. 
"  July  28, 1783." 

Note. — "Previous  to  the  revolution  which  has  just  been  com- 
pleted in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  the  Catholics  and 
missionaries  of  those  provinces  depended,  in  spiritual  matters,  on 
the  Vicar-apostolic  residing  in  Loudon.  It  is  now  evident  that 
this  arrangement  can  be  no  longer  maintained  ;  but,  as  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  the  Catholic  Christians  of  the  United  States  should 
have  an  ecclesiastic  to  govern  them  in  matters  pertaining  to  reli- 
gion, the  Congi'egation  "  de  propaganda  fide,"  existing  at  Rome, 
for  the  establishment  and  pi'cservation  of  missions,  have  come  to 
the  determination  to  propose  to  Congress  to  establish  in  one  of 
the  cities  of  the  United  States  of  North  America  one  of  their 
Catholic  bretnT'OTi,  with  the  authority  and  power  of  Vicar-apos- 
tolic, and  the  dignity  of  Bishop;  or  simply  with  the  rank  of 
Apostohcal  Prefect.  The  institution  of  a  Bishop  Vicar-apostolic 
appears  the  most  suitable,  insomuch  as  the  Catholics  of  the 
United  States  may  have  within  their  reach  the  reception  of  con- 
firmation and  orders  in  their  own  country.  And  as  it  may  some- 
times happen  that  among  the  members  of  tlie  Catholic  body  in 
the  United  States,  no  one  may  be  found  qualified  to  undertake  the 
charge  of  the  spiritual  government,  either  as  Bishoj^  or  Prefect- 
apostolic,  it  may  be  necessary,  under  such  circumstances,  that 
Congress  should  consent  to  have  one  selected  from  some  foreign 
nation  on  close  terms  of  friendship  with  the  United  States." 

The  Maryland  missionaries  learned  this  project  through  their 


I 


m  * 


i  ': 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


57 


tlio 

3Ct- 

igu 
leir 


I 


agent  at  Rome,  Father  John  Thorpe,  an  Enghsh  cx-Jesuit,  who 
resided  there  from  1756  till  his  death  in  1*792.  They  also  learned 
the  action  of  Congress  on  the  Nuncio's  note,  and,  still  believing 
*hat  the  time  had  not  come  for  a  bishop  in  the  United  States, 
took,  in  October,  1784,  the  following  curious  resolution: 

"It  is  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of  the  chapter,  that  a  Superior 
in  spirituallbus^  with  powers  to  give  cot  (irmation,  grant  faculties, 
dispensations,  bless  oils,  etc.,  is  adequate  to  the  present  exigencies 
of  religion  in  this  country.     Resolved,  therelbre, 

"  1st.  That  a  bishop  is  at  present  unnecessary. 

"  2d.  That  if  one  be  sent,  it  is  decided  by  the  majority  of  the 
chapter,  that  he  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  support  from  the 
]>resent  estates  of  the  clergy. 

"  3d.  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  and 
give  an  answer  to  Rome,  conformable  to  the  above  resolution. 

"  4tli.  That  the  best  measures  ho  taken  to  bring  in  six  proper 
clergymen  as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  means  be  furnished  by  the 
chapter  out  of  the  general  fund,  except  when  otherwise  provided." 

The  letter  to  the  Holy  Father  Avas  prepared  and  signed,  on  be- 
half of  his  associates,  by  Father  Bernard  Diderick,  who  transmitted 
it  to  Father  Thorpe  at  Rome.  The  latter  had  the  good  sense  not 
to  deliver  it,  and  the  Holy  See  could  thus  officially  ignore  a  luusty 
and  inconsiderate  step.  Dissatisfaction  at  not  having  been  co)i- 
«ulted  by  the  Propaganda  doubtless  caused  this  resolution  of  the 
chapter,  but  the  Court  of  Rome  n  n-er  intended  to  oftend  the 
zealous  missionaries  of  Maryland,  whose  labors  it  highly  a;)prc^i" 
ated.  Their  advice  had  oven  been  sought,  aud  as  eaily  as  May 
12,  178-1-,  seven  months  before  the  Whitcmarsh  resolutions,  the 
Apostolic  Nuncio  at  Paris  wrote  to  Father  John  Carroll : 

"  The  interests  of  religion,  sir,  requiring  new  arrangements 
relative  to  the  missions  in  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
the  CongTogation  of  the  Propaganda  direct  me  to  request  from 

3* 


58 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


you  a  full  Ktntement  of  the  actual  condition  of  those  missioiiA.  In 
the  mean  time,  I  beg  that  you  will  inform  me  what  number  of 
missionaries  may  be  necessary  to  serve  them  and  fuinish  spnitual 
aid  to  Catholic  Christians  in  the  United  States ;  in  what  provin- 
ces there  are  Catholics,  and  where  is  tlie  greatest  number  of  them  ; 
and  lastly,  if  there  are,  among  the  natives  of  the  country,  fit  sub- 
»ects  to  receive  holy  orders  and  exercise  the  function  of  missiona- 
ries. You  will  greatly  oblige  me  personally  by  the  attention  and 
industry  which  you  will  exercise  in  procuring  for  mo  this  infor- 
mation. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  esteem  and  consideration,  sir, 
your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

f  J.,  Archbishop  of  Seleucia, 

"  Apostolical  Nuncio." 


(( J. 


This  letter,  in  consequence  of  the  vicissitudes  of  navigation, 
reached  Father  Carroll  only  in  November.  Monseigneur  Doria, 
Nuncio  at  Paris,  had  added  a  memorandum  of  questions,  from 
which  we  extract  two : 

"  1.  Who  among  the  misrionaries  might  be  the  most  worthy, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  agreeabie  to  the  members  of  the  assembly 
of  those  provinces,  to  be  invested  with  the  character  of  Bishop  m 
partihus,  and  the  quality  of  Vicar-apostolic  ? 

"  2.  If  among  these  ecclesiastics  there  is  a  native  of  the  conn- 
try,  and  he  should  be  among  the  most  worthy,  he  should  be  }»re- 
ferred  to  all  others  of  equal  merit.  Otherwise  choice  should  be 
made  of  one  from  some  other  nation.  In  default  of  a  missionary 
actually  residing  in  those  provinces,  a  Frencliman  will  be  nomi- 
nated, who  will  go  to  establish  himself  in  America."* 

But  the  Holy  See,  in  its  admirable  prudence,  understanding 
that  the  negotiations  for  the  establishment  of  a  bishop  would  re- 

*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  878. 


:. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


69 


quire  time,  resolved  in  the  interim  to  give  Maryland  a  provisional 
ecclesiastical  organization ;  and  the  Propaganda,  yielding  to  the 
wish  expressed  in  the  first  memorial  of  the  American  missionanes, 
named  Carroll  Superior  of  the  mission,  with  extended  powers,  and 
exempted  Maryland  from  all  dependence  on  the  Vicariate  Apos- 
tolic of  London.  This  choice  shows  that  Rome  already  thought 
of  the  same  Father  as  one  proper  to  raise  to  the  Episcopal  dig- 
nity, and  of  this  we  have  a  proof  in  Thorpe's  letter  to  Carroll, 
dated  at  Rome,  June  9, 1'784 : 

"  Dear  Sir  : — This  evening  ample  faculties  are  sent  by  the 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  e  rpowering  you  to  confer  the 
sacrament  of  confirmation,  bless  oils,  etc.,  until  such  time  as  the 
necessary  information  shall  be  taken  in  ^N'orth  America  and  sent 
liither,  for  promoting  you  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  a  bishop. 
On  their  arrival  here  you  will  be  accordingly  so  nominated  by  the 
Pope,  and  the  place  determined  for  your  consecration.  Cardinal 
Borromeo  sent  for  me  to  give  me  this  intelligence,  on  the  veracity 
of  which  you  may  entirely  depend,  though  you  should  nof  >ra 
any  mistake,  have  received  it  from  other  hands.  When  the  Nun- 
cio, M.  Doria,  at  Paris,  applied  to  Mr.  Franklin,  the  old  gentle- 
man remembered  you;  he  had  his  memory  refreshed  before, 
though  you  had  modestly  put  your  own  name  in  the  last  place  of 
the  list.  I  heartily  congratulate  your  countiy  for  having  obtained 
so  worthy  a  pasto  •  Whatever  I  can  ever  be  able  to  do  in  serv- 
ing your  zeal  for  religion  shall  always  be  at  your  command. 

"  I  am  ever  most  aftectiouately  and  most  respectfully  yours, 

J.  Thorpe."* 

It  is  curious  to  see  in  Franklin's  memoirs  the  influence  of  this 
philosopher  in  an  event  so  important  to  the  Church,  and  we  shall 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  879. 


60 


THE  CVTHOLIC  CHURCH 


HI  ' 


be  excused  for  transferring  the  foUowinjr  p<i<:?c,  which  Jelongs  to 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  United  St^es: 

"1784,  July  1st. — The  Pope's  Nuncio  called,  and  acquainted 
me  that  the  Pope  had,  on  my  recommendation,  appointed  Mr. 
John  Carroll  Suj:>erior  of  the  Catholic  clergy  in  America,  with 
many  of  the  powers  of  a  bishop,  and  that  probably  he  would  bo 
made  a  bishop  in  j^cirtibua  before  the  end  of  the  year.  Ue  ask^d 
which  would  bo  most  convenient  for  him — to  come  to  France,  or 
to  go  to  St.  Domingo  for  ordination  by  another  bishop,  which 
was  necessary.  I  mentioned  Quebec  as  more  convenient  than 
either.  He  asked  whetiier,  as  that  was  an  English  province,  our 
government  might  not  take  oflfence  at  his  going  thither.  I 
thought  not,  unless  the  ordination  by  that  bishop  should  give 
him  some  authority  over  our  bishop.  He  said  not  in  the  least ; 
that  when  our  bishop  was  once  ordained,  he  would  be  indepen- 
dent of  the  other,  and  even  of  the  Pope,  which  I  did  not  clearly 
imderstand.  Ho  said  the  Congregation  "de  propag.Mida  fide" 
had  agreed  to  receive  and  maintain  and  ir  struct  two  young 
Americans  in  the  languages  and  sciences  at  Rome.  Ho  had  for- 
merly told  me  that  more  would  be  educated  gi'atis  in  France. 
He  added,  they  had  written  from  America  that  there  are  twenty 
priests,  but  that  they  are  not  sufficient,  as  tlie  new  settlements 
near  the  Mississippi  have  need  of  some. 

"  The  ^Tuncio  said  we  should  find  that  the  Catholics  were  not 
so  intolerant  as  they  had  been  represented ;  that  the  Inquisition 
in  Rome  had  not  now  so  much  power  as  that  in  Spain ;  and  that 
in  Spain  it  was  used  chiefly  as  a  prison  of  state ;  that  the  Con- 
gregation would  have  undertaken  the  education  of  more  Ameri(;aa 
youths,  and  may  hereafter,  but  that  at  present  they  are  overbur- 
dened, having  some  from  all  parts  of  the  world."* 

Franklin  communicated  to  Congress  the  projects  of  the  Coui1 


*  Sparks'  Lif^  uud  Writiugs  of  Franklin,  i.  5S.    Cited  by  Campbell. 


14     1: 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


6t 


of  Ronio,  and  received  an  answer  to  tlio  eftbct  that  the  Federal 
government  had  no  opinion  to  express  on  a  question  not  in  its 
jurisdiction.  Religious  affairs  were  under  the  control  of  the  sev- 
eral States.  This  was  at  least  showing  the  absence  of  all  opposi- 
tion to  a  Catholic  hierarchy ;  an'^  if  Protestant  fanaticism  did  not 
attempt  to  excite  the  people  'md  irritate  religious  passions,  it  was 
because  France  was  too  necv^ssaiy  an  ally  to  permit  any  insult  to 
the  religious  feelings  of  Louis  XVI.  That  monarch,  it  was 
known,  took  a  lively  interest  in  tlio  spread  of  Catholicity  in 
America,  and  France  may  thus  claim  the  glory  of  having  given 
its  powerful  aid  to  the  Holy  See  in  foundmg  the  American  Epis 
copate.  / 

We  have  gone  at  some  length  into  these  little  known  negotia- 
tions, because  we  know  nothing  better  fitted  to  inspire  confidence 
and  esteem  for  the  tutelary  authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontificate. 
The  Maryland  missionaries  believe  it  to  be  for  the  interest  of  re- 
ligion that  the  United  States  should  be  erected  into  a  Church  in- 
dependent of  England.  Rome  anticipates  their  desires,  and  her 
paternal  solicitude,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  discovers  the 
wants  of  remote  churches,  even  before  the  latter  express  them. 
The  missionaries  fear  lest  some  hostile  influence  should  disregard 
th'^:.  rights  or  compromise  the  fruit  of  their  labors.  The  Holy 
See  kindly  hears  their  representations,  well  founded  at  times,  and 
far  from  being  swayed  by  any  party,  religious  or  political,  tries 
above  all  to  secure  the  permanent  interests  of  religion  in  a  coun- 
try whose  government,  laws,  and  institutions,  so  different  from 
those  of  Europe,  were  then  but  imperfectly  understood.  Hence 
the  prudent  precaution  to  obtain  the  approval,  or  at  least  the  neu- 
trality of  Congress,  and  the  eagerness  to  choose  a  person  named 
by  the  representative  of  the  United  States  at  Paris.  The  Mary- 
land clergy  desire  that  the  Superior  should  be  taken  from  among 
them,  and  Rome  at  once  concedes  it.  They  see  no  immediate 
opportunity  for  the  appointment  of  a  bishop.     Rome  consents  to 


62 


THE  CATHOLIC   CUURCH 


Hi 


postpone  its  projects,  the  wisdom  of  which  is  now  so  pnlpable,  in- 
tismuch  as  the  grout  progress  of  religion  in  the  United  States 
can,  as  all  admit,  bo  attributed  only  to  the  foundation  of  the 
Episcopate.  IJut  when  the  missionaries  see  that  Rome  is  un- 
changeable, they  represent  that,  in  order  not  to  excite  fanaticism, 
the  creation  of  a  titular  bishop,  enjoying  all  his  rights,  would  suit 
America  better  than  a  Vicar-apostolic,  whose  immediate  (h'peud- 
ency  on  the  Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide"  would  seem  to 
constitute  a  sort  of  religious  servitude.  The  Holy  See  welcomed 
this,  too,  and  thus  this  question  of  titular  bishops,  which  has  been 
so  misunderstood  in  England,  and  considered  by  the  partisans  of 
the  established  Church  as  augmenting  the  direct  authority  of  the 
See  of  Rome,  this  question,  more  justly  appreciated  in  America, 
was  presented  as  a  means  of  reconciling  nice  republican  suscepti- 
bility to  the  foundation  of  a  Catholic  hierarchy.  Rome  went 
further  in  order  to  prove  to  the  worthy  American  missionaries 
her  affection  and  appreciation  of  their  zeal  jind  labors.  When  in 
fact  they  appreciated  the  views  of  the  Sovereign  Pontif}*,  they  re- 
ceived an  authorization  to  proceed  themselves  to  the  election  of  a 
bishop,  to  be  submitted  to  the  Court  of  Rome,  as  Father  Carroll 
recounts  in  these  temis,  in  a  letter  of  1789  :* 

"  In  the  middle  of  last  month,  I  received  a  letter  from  Cardinal 
Antonelli,  dated  in  July  last,  in  which  he  informs  me  that  his 
Holiness  has  granted  our  request  for  an  ordinary  bishop,  whose 
See  is  to  be  fixed  by  ourselves,  and  the  chpice  made  by  the  offici- 
ating priests.  We  are  going  to  take  the  affair  up  immediately, 
and  God  will,  I  hope,  direct  us  to  make  a  good  choice.     This 


*  Pins  VI.  had  appointed  a  committee  of  cardinals  of  the  Congregration 
"  do  propnganda  fide"  to  examine  this  affair  ;  and  on  the  12th  of  July,  1789, 
a  decree  was  approved  by  the  Pope,  directing  all  the  priests  exercising  the 
ministry  in  the  United  States  to  assemble  and  determine  in  what  city  the  See 
should  be,  and  who  of  themselves  seemed  most  worthy  to  be  raised  to  the 
Episcopacy— a  privilege  granted  as  a  favor,  and  fortliat  t'mo  only.  (Rohr- 
baoht.',  xxvil.  279.) 


IN   TIxE   UNITED   STATP:S. 


6 


trust  is  my  consolation.     Ollierwise  I  should  be  full  of  apprehen- 
sion to  see  the  choice  fall  where  it  mi^ht  bo  fatal." 

This  expression  shows  that  Father  Carroll  dreaded  to  see  him- 
self chosen  for  the  eminent  post  to  which  hh  high  merit,  and  the 
success  with  which  he  had  for  five  yearn  adniiiiisteretl  the  mis- 
sions as  Superior  or  Prefect-apostolic,  called  him.  In  fact,  the 
election  took  place  in  May,  1789,  and  Father  Carroll  being  cho- 
sen Bishop  of  Baltimore,  the  choice  was  ratified  at  Rome  on  the 
6th  of  November  in  that  year. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


DIOCESE    OF    BALTIMORE. 

Consecration  of  Bishop  Carroll— Jesuit  collcRe  Bt  Georgetown— Sulpitian  somlnsry  at 
Baltinior*— The  French  clergy  In  the  United  States — Bishop  Nealo  coadjutor— Keor- 
ganiiation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus— Importance  of  French  immigration. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1789,  Pope  Pius  VI.  founded  the 
Episcopal  See  of  Baltimore,  instituting  Father  John  Carroll  as  first 
bishop;  and  thus,  at  the  moment  when  the  revolution  preludeu  the 
tempest  which  was  for  a  time  to  engulf  the  Church  of  France,  Provi- 
dence raised  up  beyond  the  ocean  another  Church,  where  the  noble 
exiles  of  the  priesthood  were  to  find  a  hospitable  refuge.  The 
new  prelate  no  sooner  received  the  Bulls  from  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff than  he  proceeded  to  England  to  be.  consecrated.  The  pious 
Thomas  Weld  wished  the  ceremony  to  take  place  in  his  castle  of 
Lulworth,  and  that  ancient  pile,  honored  in  our  day  by  the  pres- 
ence of  the  exiled  king,  Charles  X.,  is  identified  wit?)  the  origin 
of  the  Episcopacy  in  the  United  States.  The  consecration  took 
place  in  the  college  chapel  on  Sunday,  August  15th,  1790;  and 


64 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


il' 


I*',  i 


ill  roincnibrnnco  of  tluit  duy,  HiKhop  Carroll  clios«  tho  foaKt  of 
tlio  Assumption  as  (ho  patronal  tt'a«t  of  lii.s  vast  diocese.  Tho 
sermon  was  delivered  by  T'litJier  Charles  IMowdcii,  and  tho  conse- 
crating prelate  was  the  learned  and  scientific  JJishoj)  Walmsley, 
tho  Dean  of  tho  Vicars-apoatolic  in  England.  Bishop  Carroll  ro- 
embarked  for  Baltimore  tho  following  October,  and  by  a  curious 
coincidence  ho  was,  b<Hh  going  and  coining,  a  fellow-voyager  of 
Mr.  Madison,  tho  I'rotestant  Ei)iKCopal  iiiohup  of  Virginia,  wlio 
had  also  been  to  England  to  obtain  Episcoi)al  institutior).  Mr, 
Madison  conceived  a  high  esteem  for  tho  Catholic  prelate,  and 
maintained  it  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  Jiishop  of  Baltimore  zealously  undertook  four  enterprises  es- 
sential to  tlio  religious  prospects  of  the  United  States — the  Catholic 
education  of  youth,  the  formation  of  a  national  clergy,  tho  ereclion 
of  churches,  the  foundation  of  female  communities  to  take  care  of 
the  sick  and  orphans.  Tho  first  of  these  works  was  the  most  urgent, 
for  it  was  imperative  to  furnish  Catholic  youth  a  Catholic  educa- 
tion at  home,  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  tho  dangers  of  I'ro- 
testant schools.  As  early  as  1788,  Bishop  Carroll,  then  only 
Vicar-general,  had  begun  the  erection  of  Georgetown  College,  and 
the  ox-Jesuits  employed  a  part  of  tho  Society's  j)roperty  for  tho 
creatiou  of  that  useful  establishment.  The  Jesuits  were  at  first 
too  few  to  perform  at  once  tho  functions  of  missionary  priests  and 
those  of  teachers ;  they  called  to  their  aid  at  Georgetown  priests 
of  other  societies.  Thus  the  Ileverend  Louis  Dubourg,  a  Sulpitian 
and  eventually  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  was  President  of  tho  col- 
lege in  lYOG,  and  another  Sulpitian,  Ambrose  Marechal,  Professor 
of  Philosophy  iu  1799.  But  even  before  the  restoration  of  tho 
Society  in  1814,  tho  disciples  of  St.  Ignatius  had  the  exclusive 
direction  of  the  noble  college  which  for  the  last  sixty-five  years 
has  brought  up  generations  in  science  and  letters.  By  a  happy 
turn  of  aft'airs  which  contributed  to  givc^  a  considerable  import- 
ance to  Georgetown,  the  site  of  the  federal  city  of  Washington 


IN   TUE    L'NITKl)  STATKS. 


05 


was  cliosen  sciirco  n  l»;a<ifUo  from  thu  collcj^c,  so  that  tlio  .K'siiils 
fuutul  thoniHclviis  htiiliuiied  iit  tliu  vory  <^aUs  of  tho  CHijiitol.*  In 
1816  Congress  invoHtt'd  this  college  ^vith  the  privileges  of  a  uni- 
versity, and  this  fonndation  of  Uishop  Carroll  remains  cno  of  his 
greatest  titles  to  fame. 

The  Bishop  of  Baltimore  had  at  first  intended  to  open  a  semi- 
nary also  at  (Jeorgotown;  hut  diu'ing  a  visit  to  England,  ho  en- 
tered into  correspondence  with  Mr.  Emery,  Superior-general  of 
the  Society  of  St.  Sulpico,  wlioso  wise  foresight  then  sought  to 
shelter  his  Society  from  the  storms  of  tho  revolution.  Wiieii 
Mr.  Emery  saw  tho  National  Assembly  of  Franco  threaten  with 
destruction  all  tho  religious  institutions  of  that  country,  ho  n^- 
solvcd  to  prepare  a  refuge,  that  St.  Suli)ico  might  bo  preserved 
from  total  extinction,  in  cjiso  it  shoidd  bo  suppressed  at  Paris. 
IIo  nccorilingly  sent  his  assistant,  Mr.  Nagot,  to  Londt^)!!,  and 
we  may  easily  conceive  how  eagerly  liishop  Carroll  welcomed 
his  overtures,  from  tho  following  letter  of  September  25th, 
1700: 

"  Providence  seems  to  favor  our  views.  In  consequence  of  a 
previous  correspondence  between  the  Nuncio  at  l*aris  and  Mr. 
Emery,  Superior-general  of  St.  Sulpice,  on  tho  one  hand,  and  my- 
self on  tho  other,  Mr.  Nagot,  Superior  du  Petit  Seminaire  do  St. 
Sulpico,  has  been  here.  We  havo  settled  that  two  or  three  gen- 
tlemen selected  by  Mr.  Emery  shall  come  over  to  Baltimore  next 
spring.  They  are  furnished  with  the  means  of  purchasing  gro'uid 
for  buildings,  and,  I  hope,  of  endowing  a  seminary  for  young 
ecclesiastics.  I  believe  they  will  bring  three  or  four  seminarians 
with  them,  who  are  either  English,  or  know  it.     They  will  be 


*  Oretinciiu  Joly  (vi.  863)  snya  thiit  Georijctowii  CoUctro  was  founded 
altnost  at  iho  gates  of  \Vuhhin<,'toti.  .Inst  tlic  reverse.  The  colleijo  wua 
opened  in  1701,  Wasliiiif^toii  created  in  1702.  (ioorj^etown  (.'olloffe  contains. 
two  hundred  and  sixty  boarders,  and  tho  Jesuit  day-schools  in  Washington 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  more. 


66 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


V  ^ 


|i 


amply  provided  with  books,  apparatus  for  tlie  altar,  church,  etc. — « 
professors  of  philosophy  and  divinity.  I  propose  fixing  these 
very  near  to  my  own  home,  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore,  that  they 
may  be,  as  it  were,  the  clergy  of  the  church,  and  contribute  to 
the  dignity  of  divine  worship.  This  is  a  great  and  auspicious 
event  for  our  diocese,  but  it  is  a  melanchol "  reflection  that 
we  owe  so  great  a  blessing  to  the  lamentable  catastroj^he  iu 
France."* 

Mr.  Nagot  returned  to  Paris  to  put  tlie  plan  in  execution,  but 
the  Sulpitians  experienced  great  difficulties  in  realizing  a  part  of 
their  property  and  in  sailing  for  America,  in  consequence  of  the 
political  convulsions  of  that  wretched  period.  They  were  power- 
fully aided,  especially  in  the  transfer  of  the  funds,  by  Governeur 
Morris,  American  ambassador  at  Paris ;  and  at  last,  on  the  8th 
of  April,  1791,  Mr.  F.  0.  Nagot,  Superior,  embarked  at  St.  Malo, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Levadoux,  Procurator,  Messrs.  John  Tessier 
and  Anthony  Gamier,  Professors  of  Theology,  and  Mr.  Delavan, 
a  Canon  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours.f  They  had  with  them  five  semi- 
narians, and  lastly,  a  fellow-voyager  of  quite  a  different  stamp, 
the  young  Francis  de  Chateaubriand,  then  on  his  way  to  America 
in  pursuit  of  one  of  his  first  chimeras,  the  northwest  passage. 
We  have  examined  his  Memoires  d'Outre  Tombe,  to  see  vhat  he 
might  have  said  of  this  voyage  undertaken  in  such  holy  com- 
pany, and  the  reflections  which  it  inspired  seem  to  us  not  out  of 
place : 

"  I  chose  Si.  Malo  to  embark,  and  struck  a  bargain  with  a  cap- 


*  Brent's  Sketch  of  Bishop  Ciirroll,  125. 

+  Aceordhigto  a  manuscript  of  the  Abbe  Dillet,  preserved  at  the  seminary 
in  Baltimore,  the  idea  of  transfcrrinis:  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpico  out  of  J'rance 
was  sujtrgested  to  Mr.  Emery  by  Mr.  de  St.  Felix,  Superior  of  the  Seminary 
of  Tours.  On  the  closing  of  the  Seminary  of  Orleans,  Mr,  Chicoisnea;;,  the 
Superior,  wished  to  emigrate  to  America  with  several  other  Sulpitian  pro- 
fessors, but  they  were  unable  to  do  so,  though  Mr.  Chicoisncau  subsequontly 
came  to  the  United  States,  and  resided  for  a  time  at  Baltimore. 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


67 


taiu  named  Desjardiiis.  IIo  was  to  cany  to  Baltimoro  the  Abbe 
Nagot,-^  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  several  seminarians  under  thb 
guidance  of  their  chief.  These  travelling  companions  would  have 
Buited  me  better  four  years  before.  I  had  been  a  zealous  Chris- 
tian, but  had  become  a  '  strong  mind' — that  is,  a  '  weak  mind.' 
This  change  in  my  religious  opinions  had  been  effected  by  the 
reading  of  the  philosophers  of  the  day.  I  sincerely  believed  tliat 
a  religious  mind  was  paralyzed  on  one  side ;  that  there  w^ere 
truths  which  could  not  reach  it,  superior  as  it  might  otherwise 
be.  I  supposed  in  the  religious  mind  the  absence  of  a  faculty 
found  especially  in  the  philosophic  mind.  A  purblind  mau  thinks 
he  sees  all  because  he  has  his  eyes  open ;  a  superior  mind  is  con- 
tent to  close  its  eyes  because  it  perceives  all  within. 

"Among  my  fellow-voyagers  was  an  Englishman.  Francis 
Tallok  had  served  in  the  artillery.  Painter,  musician,  mathema- 
tician, he  spoke  several  languages.  Tlie  Abbe  Nagot,  having 
met  the  English  officer,  made  a  Catholic  of  him,  and  ,was  taking 
his  convert  to  Baltimore."* 

After  a  painful  voyage  of  three  months,  stopping  at  the  Azores, 
St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  Nagot  and  his  companions  reached  Bal- 
timore. 

Bisliop  CaiToll  was  then  on  a  pastoral  visit  at  Boston,  when 
Mr.  Nagot  and  his  companions  arrived,  but  on  his  return  he 
gave  them  a  most  cordial  welcome,  as  we  may  see  by  the  follow- 
ing letter  of  the  prelate,  wiitten  in  September  following: 

"  Wlieu  I  returned  from  Boston,  in  July,  I  had  the  happiness 
of  finding  here  M.  Nagot  with  his  company  from  St.  Suljiice ; 
himself  and  three  other  priests  belonging  to  the  establishment, 


*  Mcmoirc  >  d'Outre  Toinbe,  par  Cliatoaubriand,  Francis  Charles  Nagot, 
born  at  Tours  in  1734,  was  long  Director  of  the  Petit  Seniir.airo  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  also  Director  of  the  Grand  Seminaire.  Of  his  important  ser- 
vices to  tlic  American  Church  we  sliall  speak  more  at  lengtVi  hereafter,  ia 
cotniection  with  St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary,  of  both  of  which  ho  may 
be  considered  the  founder. 


68 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


ti\M 


hi  » 


viz.,  .'i  procurator  and  two  professors,  and  five  seniinarians,* 
They  will  be  joined  soon  by  one  or  two  natives  of  this  comitry. 
These  now,  with  Mr.  Delavan,  a  Avorthy  French  priest,  form  the 
clergy  of  my  cathedral  (a  paltry  cathedral)  and  attract  a  great 
concourse  of  all  denominations,  by  the  decency  and  exactneiss 
with  wldch  they  perform  all  parts  of  divine  sernce. 

"  If  in  many  instances  the  French  Revolution  has  been  fatal  to 
religion,  this  country  promises  to  derive  advantage  from  it."f 

Mr.  Nagot  immediately  bought  an  inn,  with  four  acres  of 
ground,  for  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  Maryland 
currency,  and  at  once  opened  his  seminary  there ;  at  the  same 
time  sending  one  of  his  companions,  Mr.  De  Moudesir,  to  teach 
at  Georgetown.  The  two  establishments  thus  aided  each  other, 
Jesuit  and  Sulpitian,  vying  in  zeal  for  the  good  of  religion.  The 
college  was  to  be  the  hive  of  the  seminary,  as  that  was  to  be  of 
the  American  clergy.  But  before  the  seminary  had  time  to  form 
young  subjects  for  the  priesthood,  the  persecutions  of  the  Reign 
of  Terror  drove  to  the  United  States  learned  and  experienced 
priests,  who  enabled  Bishop  Carroll  to  multiply  the  missions  and 
extend  the  circle  far  beyond  the  limits  of  Maryland,  in  New  Eng- 
hind,  Kentucky,  and  the  most  remote  territoiy  of  the  West.  The 
essential  service  of  these  priests  will  appear  in  all  its  light  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  the  other  dioceses  of  the  United  States,  and 
a  bishop,  himself  a  native  of  the  country,  has  justly  said : 

"  The  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  is  deeply  indebted 
to  the  zeal  of  the  exiled  Fi'ench  clergy.     No  portion  of  the 


*  Of  tlic  companions  of  Nagot  wo  may  mention  Jolm  Floyd,  an  Englisli- 
man,  ordained  by  Eisliop  Carroll  in  17'Jo,  and  who  built  a  church  at  the 
Point  in  Baltimore,  and  died  there  of  a  contagious  disease  in  1797;  and  John 
Thomas  Michael  Edward  Pierron  Do  Mondosir,  born  in  March,  1770,  in  tho 
jiarish  of  St.  Hilairo  do  Nogont  Ic  Kolrou.  Ho  wivs  oi  laincd  on  tho  30th  of 
Soptember,  179S,  but  returned  to  Prance  in  1801.  They  wore  tiic  third  and 
fourth  priests  ordained  in  the  TTiiited  States. 

t  lirciit's  JJiograjiiiical  Sketcli,  l^^tj. 


IN    THE   UNITED  STATES. 


69 


American  Chuvclx  owes  more  to  them  than  that  of  Kentucky. 
They  supplied  our  infant  missions  with  most  of  their  earUest  and 
most  zealous  laborers,  and  they  likewise  gave  to  us  our  first, 
bishops.  There  is  something  in  the  elasticity  and  buoyancy  of 
character  of  the  French  which  adapts  them  in  a  peculiar  manner 
to  foreign  missions.  They  have  always  been  the  best  missiona- 
ries among  the  North  Amei-ican  Indians ;  they  can  mould  their 
character  to  suit  every  circumstance  and  emergency ;  they  can 
be  at  home  and  cheerful  everywhere.  The  French  clergy  who 
landed  on  our  shores,  though  many  of  them  had  been  trained  up 
amid  all  the  refinements  of  polished  France,  could  yet  submit 
without  a  murmur  to  all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  mis- 
sion on  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  or  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
wilderness.  They  could  adapt  themselves  to  the  climate,  mould 
themselves  to  the  feelings  and  habits  of  a  people  opposite  to  them 
in  temperament  and  character."* 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  venerable  exiles  were  the  Abbe 
John  Dubois,  who  landed  at  Norfolk  in  July,  1791,  and  who  be- 
came in  1826  Bishop  of  New  York;  the  Abbes  Benedict  Flaget, 
John  B.  David,  and  Stephen  Badin,  who  reached  Baltimore  in  the 
same  vessel,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1792;  the  Abbes  Francis 
Malignon,  Ambrose  Marechal,  Gabriel  Richard,  and  Francis  Ci- 
([uard  followed  close  on  these  last,  and  presented  themselves  to 
Bishop  Carroll  on  the  24th  of  June,  1792.  The  year  1794  in- 
creased the  clergy  of  the  United  States  by  the  arrival  of  the  Abbe 
Louis  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  of  the 
Abbes  John  Moranville,  Donatian  Olivier,  and  Rivet.  In  1796 
came  the  Abbo  Fournicr,  a  missionary  in  Kentucky,  and  the 
Abbo  John  Lefovre  Cheverus,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Boston;  in 
1798  the  Abbo  Anthony  Salmon  joined  his  friend  Fournier,  and 
others  still,  weary  of  loading  a  useless  life  in  England  or  Spain, 

*  Sketches  of  t lie  Early  Catholic  Missions  of  Kentucky,  by  M.  J.  Spalding, 
D.  D.,  Louisville,  IS  15,  page  56. 


70 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


ft! 
II 


;  ,>  ■ 

■  (' 
'i  ■ 

'I 

■  i 


left  those  countries  where  thay  received  a  generous  hospitality  to 
come  and  exercise  a  painful  ministry  in  America,  and  condemn 
themselves  to  a  life  of  privation.* 

The  Abbo  Marechal  •svas  ordained  at  Bordeaux  the  very  day  he 
sailed,  and  said  his  first  Mass  at  Baltimore.  The  Abbe  Stephen 
Badin  Avas  raised  to  the  priesthood  in  Baltimore  on  the  25th  of 
May,  1793,  and  was  the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States. 

The  foundation  of  Georgetown  College  and  the  Sulpitian  Sem- 
inary gave  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  some  stability,  and  Bishop 
Carroll  was  enabled  to  assemble  his  clergy  in  a  Synod  in  Novem- 
ber, I'i'Ol ;  twenty  ecclesiastics  were  present;  it  was  determined 


*  John  Dubois,  born  in  Paris  in  1764,  ordained  in  1787,  came  to  America 
in  1791,  founded  St.  Mary's  in  1807,  Bishop  of  Nsw  York  m  1826,  died 
in  1842. 

Benedict  Flaget,  born  at  Bellom  in  1764,  Sulpitian  in  1783,  priest  in  1788, 
missionary  at  Vincennes,  Ind.,  in  1792,  Bishop  of  BastJstown  in  1810,  trans- 
feired  to  Louisville  in  1841,  died  in  1850. 

John  B.  David,  born  near  Nantes  in  1760,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  in  1784, 
missionary  in  Maryland  in  1792,  in  Kentucky  in  1811,  coadjutor  of  Bards- 
town,  and  Bishop  of  Mauricastro  in  partibus  in  1819,  died  in  1841. 

Stephen  Badin,  born  at  Orleans  in  1768,  ordained  priest  at  Baltimore  in 
1793,  missionary  in  Kentucky  in  1793,  died  at  Cincinnati  in  1853. 

Francis  Matignon,  born  at  Paris  in  1753,  priest  in  1773,  missionary  at  Bos- 
ton in  1792,  died  at  Boston  in  1818. 

Ambrose  Marechal,  born  at  Orleans  in  1768,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  1792, 
Arclibishop  of  Baltimore  in  1817,  died  in  1828. 

Gabriel  Kichard,  born  at  Saintcs  in  1764,  Sulpitian,  ordained  in  1792,  mis- 
sionary in  1796,  at  Detroit  from  1798,  deputy  to  Congress  from  Michigan  in 
1823,  nominated  Bisliop  of  Detroit,  died  of  cholera  at  Detroit  in  1882. 

Francis  Ciquard,  born  at  Clermont,  ordained  in  1779,  a  Sulpitian,  mission- 
ixry  among  the  Ir  liars  of  Maine  in  1792,  died  at  Montreal. 

Louis  T'i'ibourt:'.  born  at  St.  Domingo  in  176G,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  in  1795, 
Bishop  of  New  (rleans  in  1815,  of  Montauban  in  1826,  Arclibishop  of  Be- 
f?an<;on  in  1883,  died  in  1833. 

John  Moranvill.?,  born  near  Amiens  in  17G0,  missionary  at  Cayenne  in 
1784,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1794,  stationed  at  Baltimore  in  1804,  died 
at  Amiens  in  1824. 

The  Abbe  Fournier,  bom  in  the  dicoese  of  Blois,  missionary  in  Kentucky 
in  1791,  died  in  1803. 

John  Lefevre  Cheverus,  born  a^  Mayenne  in  1768,  priest  in  1790,  Bishop 


IN   THE    ;'JMTED   STATES. 


71 


I 

! 


to  solicit  of  the  Holy  See  the  division  of  the  United  States  into 
several  dioceses,  or  at  least  the  appointment  of  a  coadjutor  to 
share  the  burden  of  the  Episcopate.  With  all  his  zeal,  Bishop 
Carroll  could  not  extend  his  pastoral  visits  over  his  immense  dio- 
cese, and  Pius  VI.,  aMve  to  the  religious  wants  of  America,  ap- 
pointed as  coadjutoi  Father  Leonard  Neale,  who  was  consecrated 
at  Baltimore,  Bishop  of  Gortyna  in  partibus,  in  the  course  of  the 
year  1800. 

Leonard  Neale  was  born  in  Maryland  on  the  15th  of  October, 
1*746,  and  belonged  to  a  distinguished  family,  whose  ancestors 
figure  among  the  first  colonists  of  Lord  Baltimore.*  His  mother, 
a  pious  and  courageous  widow,  who  had  already  parted  with  four 
sons  to  send  them  to  the  Jesuit  college  of  St.  Omers,  to  be  edu- 
cated, resolved  to  give  little  Leonard  the  same  advantages,  and  at 
the  age  of  twelve  he  too  embarked  for  France.  There  he  followed 
the  example  of  his  brothers,  who  had  all  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  while  their  sister  Anne  became  a  Poor  Clare,  at  Aire  in 
Artois.  But  Father  Leonard  had  scarcely  pronounced  his  vows 
when  ihe  dispersion  of  the  Society  compelled  him  to  retire  to 

of  Boston  in  1810,  of  Montauban  in  1818,  Arclibishop  of  Bordeaux  in  182G, 
Cardinal  in  1836,  died  in  1836. 

The  Abbo  Eivet,  born  at  Limoges,  missionary  at  Vincennea  in  1795,  died 
in  1303. 

Anthony  Salmon,  born  in  the  diocese  of  Blois,  missionary  in  Kentucky  in 
1798,  died  of  cold,  in  tlio  snow,  near  Bardstowr  iji  1799. 

The  Abbe  Barriere  escaped  from  prison  at  Bordeaux,  and  reached  Balti- 
more in  1798,  missionary  in  Kentucky  and  Louisiana,  died  at  Bordeaux  in 
1814. 

Anthony  Gamier,  born  in  the  diocese  of  La  Eochelle  in  ^'"'■9.,  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Baltimore,  in  1792,  returned  to  France  in  1803,  auperior-general 
of  St.  Sulpice  in  1827>  died  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

John  Tessier  became  President  of  the  Seminary  of  Baltimore  on  Mr.  N»- 
got's  resignation  in  1810. 

Peter  Babade,  born  at  Lyons,  came  to  America  in  1796,  died  at  Lyons  in 
1846. 

Donation  Olivier,  born  at  Nantes  in  174C,  missionary  in  Illinois  in  1795, 
died  in  1841,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five. 

*  See  Davis's  Day-star,  pp.  243,  244. 


r|l 


72 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


England.  In  1779  he  resolved  to  gr<  and  ovanj^clize  Doinerarn, 
in  English  Guiana,  and  tliero  ho  preached  the  fuith  successfully 
to  the  natives ;  but  the  persecutions  of  the  colonists  prevented  his 
continuing  his  ministry  even  in  that  deadl)'  climat»%  and  in  1783 
Father  Neale  set  out  for  Maryland.  After  having  liecn  attach*  1 1 
to  several  churches  in  that  State,  ho  was  sent  in  179^  to  Philu- 
delphia,  where  the  yellow  fever  had  carried  off  the  tno  Jesuits 
who  directed  that  missiu?i.  Father  Neale  was  unwearied  in  brav- 
ing the  pestilence  and  rescuing  its  victims  by  uis  charitable  care. 
In  1797  and  179B  the  same  cpidcniio  renowed  its  frightful 
ravages  in  Philadelphia,  and  fouifd  ih:)  mivsionary  hi  the  breach, 
ever  ready  to  bear  the  consolations  of  hu  rrnnwtry  to  the  sick  and 
dying.  lu  1799  Bishop  (Jurroll  call>J  him  t'>  preside  over 
Georgetown  College,  where  he  succeeded  Mr,  Pubourg,  and  ho 
was  still  in  that  post  when  the  Episcopal  dignity  surprised 
him.* 

The  two  6>.- Jesuits,  become  I'ir-hops,  would,  it  may  be  imagined, 
cars  little  abou'  the  fate  of  their  Society,  extinguished  thirty 
years  before.  But  the  sons  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  never  forget 
their  mother,  and  as  aooxi  as  Bishop  Carroll  learned-  that  the  So- 
ciety still,  in  a  manner,  ^..rvived  in  the  Russian  emp?'re,  he  begged 
Father  Gruber  to  readmit  die  Fathers  living  in  the  UnHod  States. 
He  added  that  the  property  of  the  Society  was  preserved  almost 


*  Notice  on  the  Most  Rev.  Leonftrd  Neale,  second  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more, by  M.  C.  Jenkins.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  505.  Oliver's  precioua 
Collection  enables  us  to  give  the  names  of  the  five  brothers : 

William  Neale,  born  August  14, 1743,  died  in  1799  at  Manchester  Hospital, 
insane. 

Benedict  Neaje,  bom  Am^ust  14,  1743,  apparently  a  twin  brother  of  the 
former,  died  in  Maryland  i.^  1787. 

Cluulto  Neale,  who  died  at  Georgetown,  April  28,  1823. 

Leonard  Neale,  born  15th  October,  174G  (Oliver  says  1747),  died  in  1817. 

Francis  Neale,  born  in  1755.  died  in  Maryland  in  I'^-T 

There  seeme  to  be  some  confusion,  however,  as  lard  is  styled  the 
ycujigest. 


IX   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


78 


ti- 
lls 

r 


jutact,  and  that  it  would  siipjx)!!  thii'tv  religious.  The  letter  of 
thft  bif  iM  p  and  of  his  coadjutor  is  dated  May  25,  1803,  and  con- 
tfiiniS  t^iis  remarkable  passage  of  modesty  and  self  denial : 

'  Wi'  ')  1  e  been  so  much  employed  in  ministries  foreign  to  our 
institute ;  we  are  so  inexperienced  in  government ;  the  want  of 
books,  even  of  the  constitutions  and  decrees  of  the  congregations, 
is  so  flagrant,  that  you  cannot  find  one  Jesuit  among  us  sufficiently 
qualified  by  health  and  strevigth,  as  well  as  other  requisites,  to 
fulfil  tiie  duties  of  Superior.  It  would  seem  then  most  expedient 
iv^  send  here  some'  Father  from  those  around  you.  He  must 
know  your  intentions  thoroughly,  and  be  prudent  enough  to  un- 
dertake nothing  precipitately  before  he  has  studied  the  govern- 
ment, laws,  and  spirit  of  this  republic,  and  the  manners  of  the 
people." 

There  were  then  in  Maryland  only  thirteen  Jesuits,  nearly  all 
broken  with  age  and  missionary  toils.  Father  Gruber  at  once 
authorized  a  renewal  of  their  vows,  and  Fathers  Robert  Molyneux, 
Charles  Neale,  Charles  Sewall,  and  Sylvester  Boarman  availed 
themselves  of  the  permission  ;*  but  he  did  not  send  a  visitor  from 
Europe,  as  Father  Carroll  asked,  and  he  had  confidence  enough 
in  the  American  Jesuits  to  name  one  of  them  Superior  of  the 
whole  missiop.  The  choice  of  Father  Gruber  fell  on  Father  Mo- 
lyneux, and  there  soon  arrived  in  the  TTnited  States  Fathers  Adam 
Britt,  John  Henry,  F.  Maleve,  Anthony  Kohlmann,  P.  Epinette, 
Maximilian  de  Rautzeau,  Peter  Malou,  John  Grassi,  and  F.  Van- 
quickenlorne.  These  new  auxiharies,  with  the  Sulpitians  and 
otiier  French  priests,  contributed  not  only  to  propagate  the  faith 
rapidly  in  the  United  States,  but  cspeci;Jl/  to  bnng  back  or  re- 
tain in  the  practice  of  religk/  he  Cr'tholic  settlers  till  then  de- 
prived of  pastoi"?.* 


*  Laity's  Directory  for  1822,  p.  128. 

t  Hcnrion,  Histoire  des  Missions  Catholiques,  ii,  662;  Cr^tineau  Joly,  Hia- 
toiro  de  la  Compn,"  .e  de  J^sus,  vi.  Cr)9  ;  Laity's  Directory,  124. 

4 


■^M^ 


K.1  i 


m  i 


i; 


u 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Among  tliu  instruments  of  the  regeneration  of  the  Chui'ch  in 
the  United  States,  we  must  not  forget  the  many  French  famihes 
who  emigrated  from  St.  Domingo  at  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
and  settled  at  Baltimore  or  New  York.  In  liis  history  of  the 
Huguenot  refugees,  Weiss  enters  into  long  details  on  those  who 
settled  in  America  on  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes.  The 
author,  following  his  system,  exaggerates  beyond  all  limit  the  im- 
portance of  that  immigration,  and  draws  an  imaginary  sketch  of 
the  influence  exercised  on  America,  by  the  French  Huguenots,  in 
agriculture,  literature,  politics,  arts,  sciences',  civilization,  and  so 
forth.  We  shall  bo  much  more  in  truth's  domain  when  we  affirm 
that  the  French  Catholic  families,  driven  from  the  West  Indies 
by  the  frightful  consequences  of  the  revolution,  and  who  came  to 
seek  peace  and  liberty  in  the  United  States,  fav  exceeded  in  num- 
ber the  Protestant  immigration  of  the  pi'evious  century.  Nay, 
more  :  misfortune  having  purified  their  faith,  these  Creoles  were 
distinguished  for  their  attachment  to  religion,  and  often  became 
the  living  models  of  American  congregations.  Without  counting 
Martinique  and  Guadaloupe,  tho  French  part  of  St.  Domingo 
contained  in  1*793  forty  thousand  whites.  All  emigrated  to 
escape  being  massacred  by  the  blacks ;  many  mulattoes  followed 
them,  and  of  this  mass  of  emigrants  a  great  part  settled  in  the 
United  States. 

The  annals  of  Baltimore  say  that  on  the  9th  of  July,  1*793, 
fifty-three  vessels  arrived  at  that  port,  bearing  about  one  thousand 
whites  and  R"<\  hundred  colored  people,  flying  from  the  disasters 
of  St.  Domingo.  These  arrivals  were  followed  by  many  others, 
either  at  Baltimore  or  at  other  ports  of  the  United  States.  In 
1807  the  Catholics  in  New  York  were  estimated  at  fourteen 
thousand,  "  a  large  part  of  whom  are  refugees  from  St.  Domingo 
and  other  islands."*      Before  joining  the   negro  insurrection, 

•  Griffith's  Annals  of  Baltimore, ".  .0. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


76 


Tou8saiut  L'Ouverture  protected  the  flight  of  the  family  whose 
coachman  he  was,  and  enabled  them  and  many  other  Creoles  to 
reach  Baltimore.  In  a  notice  on  Bishop  Dubourg  we  read  that 
the  disasters  of  St.  Domingo  cast  on  our  hospitable  shores  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Catholic  families  and  colored  people,  most  of 
them  full  of  piety,  and  others  disposed  to  it  by  misfortune.'''  In 
the  Life  of  the  Abbe  Moranvillo  we  also  find  that,  "  besides  the 
emigration  from  France,  a  very  large  number  of  the  most  respect- 
able inhabitants  of  St.  Domingo,  flying  from  the  massacre  of 
1 793,  found  refuge  at  Baltimore.  Many  of  these  refugees  were 
endowed  with  eminent  piety  ;"f  and  the  author  of  the  Annals  of 
Baltimore  says  that  these  immigrations  of  French  colonists  in- 
creased the  wealth  and  population  of  the  city.. 

We  may  also  claim  as  French  not  only  the  inhabitants  of 
Michigan,  Illinois,  and  Louisiana,  but  also  the  good  Acadians 
who  were,  in  1Y56,  forcibly  torn  from  their  homes  by  the  English, 
and  to  the  number  of  seven  thousand,  forced  on  board  of  ve^-sels, 
which  scattered  them  along  the  coast  from  Boston  to  Carolina, 
leaving  them  to  the  charity  of  those  among  whom  they  were 
thrown.  The  only  crime  of  the  Acadians  was  their  religion  and 
birth  (they  were  French  Catholics),  and  their  treatment  is  equalled 
in  perfidy  only  by  the  conduct  of  Charles  III.  of  Spain  to  the 
Jesuits. 

Thus,  English  fanaticism  and  the  disasters  of  the  revolution 
peopled  the  territory  of  the  United  States  with  more  French 
Catholics  than  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  ever  sent 
Huguenots ;  and  we  ourselves  have  been  able  to  see  with  our  own 

*  M6moire  pour  server  il■aj^loll'e  ccclesiastique  pendant  le  xviii  sieclo. 
Paris,  1815,  iii.  194. 

t  Catholic  Almanac,  1839.     Amonr  tbose  who  thus  c   ■ 'rated  to  tliia 

country  wo  need  only  mention  the  I    ■■  •    ther  Nicholas  Petit,  of  the  Society 

of  Jesus,  who  recently  died  atTr^j,    ;   :  w.-ose  apostolical -abors  in  many 

oarts  of  the  con'-itry  will  long  bo  rLwiembercd  by  thor-e  ho  guided  in  tho 

8  of  perfeclior 


iimK^<r*tsAnmr^^mgr''/^ 


'-^ 


"'    i 


76 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIUKCH 


eyes  how  niaiiy  clcscotKlants  of  the  phintcij  -  ^'  I'ommgo  and 
exiles  of  Acadie  have  faithfully  presorvctl  at  New  York,  Baltimore, 
Charleston,  and  New  Orleans  the  faillt  of  their  fathers. 


CllA^^TER  VII. 


I; 


■■f  r 


THE    (  HTTKCII    IN    MARYLAND. 

The  Carmelites— Poor  Clares— Visitation  nuns — Sisters  of  Cliarlty— Baltimore  an  ec- 
clesiastical province  willi  four  sutfragans— Death  of  Archbishop  Carroll.* 

After  having  provided,  by  the  foundation  of  a  college  and 
seminary,  for  the  education  of  youth  and  the  recruiting  of  the 
priesthood,  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore's  next  care  was  to  introduce 
into  Maryland  religious  communities  of  women,  to  instruct  the 
young  of  their  own  sex,  nurse  the  sick,  and  adopt  the  orphan. 
These  good  works  have  ever  been  the  heritage  of  the  Church, 
and  ephemeral  indeed  must  be  the  branch  whieh  ims  not  yet 
laid  the  foundation  of  convents  for  prayer  or  charity.  Till  1*790 
the  United  States  did  not  know  what  a  female  religious  was.f 
It  was  only  then  that  Father  Charles  Neale,  brother  of  the  future 
coadjutor  of  Baltimore,  brought  with    him   from   Belgnum   to 

*  The  year  1790  is  a  memorable  era  in  Catholic  publication  in  the  United 
States.  The  zealous  Jesuits  liad,  even  prior  to  the  Kevolution,  issue*'  a  few 
prayer-books  and  the  Following  of  Christ,  all  privately  priute''  The  faith- 
ful now  needed  an  edition  of  the  Bible,  and  a  quarto  was  p;  li  1  by  '  'arey, 
Stewart  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1790.  But  one  edition  ol  .k  Pro  stant 
version  had  then  appeared  in  America,  so  that  Catholics,  so  often  traduced 
as  enemies  of  the  BibI'  >^\ere  among  the  first  to  print  it  in  this  country,  and 
to  this  day  can  boast  ui  the  finest  edition,  tbo  unsurpassed  Haydock  from 
Dunigan's  press. 

+  The  Ursuline  Convent  at  New  Orleans  was  founded  in  1727,  but  Louisi- 
ftna  at  that  time  belonged  to  France.    Before  the  close  of  the  seveuteenth 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


77 


United 
a  fow 
faith- 
"urey, 
stant 
Juced 
y,  and 
V  from 


America  four  Curnielitcy  of  St.  Thei'csfi's  reform,  three  of  wliuin 
were  Americans,  the  fourth  an  Etij^lish  hidy  ;  and  tlius  one  of  the 
most  auHfere  orders  in  tlie  Church  was  the  first  to  naturah/,e  itsell 
in  tlie  United  States,  Father  Cliarics  Neale  luid  a  cousin, 
Mother  Mary  Margaret  Brent,  Superior  of  the  Carmelite  convent 
at  Antwerp,  a  house  ffiundcd  only  thirty-seven  years  after  St. 
Theresa's  death.  At  the  rerpust  of  this  lady,  Father  Charles 
Neale  in  17S0  assumed  the  spiritual  direction  of  the  convent,  and 
he,  by  his  correspondence  with  his  friends  in  Ameri(;a,  excited  a 
desire  to  have  a  branch  of  the  Carmelites  at  Port  Tobacco,  where 
the  Neale  family  resided.  Father  Carroll  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of 
Antwerp,  and  on  the  19th  of  April,  1190,  four  Carmelites  em- 
barked at  Antwerp  with  Father  Neale  for  Maryland.  They  were 
Mother  Bernardino  Mathews,  Superior,  her  two  sisters.  Mothers 
Aloysius  and  Eleanora  Mathews,  from  the  couvent  of  Hogstraet, 
and  Sister  Mar  Dickinson,  of  tfio  convent  of  Antwerp.  On  the 
15th  of  Octol  >  the  Carmelites  took  possession  of  their  house, 
■which  Father  Neale  had  built  at  his  own  expense;  and  there 
they  practised  their  rule  in  all  its  severity,  fasting  eight  months 
in  the  year,  wearing  woollr!i,  sleeping  on  straw,  and  otlering  their 
prayers  and  mortifications  tor  the  salvation  of  souls.  In  1800 
they  lost  their  Superior,  who  was  succeeded  by  Mother  Dickinson. 
In  1823  Father  Charles  Neale,  their  venerable  founder,  died,  after 
having  directed  them  by  his  counsels  for  thirty-three  years.  In 
1810  Mother  Dickinson  followed  him  to  the  grave.  Born  in 
London  and  educated  in  France,  she  had  been  a  religious  foi 
fifty-eight  years,  and  was  revered  as  a  saint  by  her  spiritual 


century,  Canada  had  six  female  religious  communities.    Tlie  following  aro 
the  dates  of  their  foundation : 

lt);39 — Hospital  Nuns,  and  Ursulincs  of  Quebec. 

1642— Hospital  Nuns  of  Montreal. 

lt}53 — Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Our  I/ady. 

lt)93 — Sisters  of  the  General  Hospital,  Queboo. 

1697— The  Ursulinos  of  Three  Rivera. 


78 


TIIK  CATllOI-IC  CllUUCn 


<l!iu<,'liters.  At  this  epoch  tlio  Cnniit'liU'H  »urt'oroil  the  greatest 
fniiiiH'ial  onibjiiTu.sHjm'iits,  so  ns  jictimlly  to  expciiciico  all  the  pii- 
vatioriK  of  want,  in  consoiiuenco  of  tlio  inismauMgcment  of  the 
farm  from  wliich  thoy  dorivod  their  support.  Archhisliop  Whit- 
fiokl,  touched  hy  their  painful  position,  advised  them  to  leave  I'ort 
Tobacco  and  remove  to  IJ/dlimore,  where  they  might  create  re- 
sources l)y  opening  a  hoarding-school.  The  Holy  See  permitted 
this  modification  of  their  rule,  and  on  the  13th  of  Scptcndx'r, 
IH.'Jl,  the  Carmelites,  to  the  number  of  twenty-four,  bade  a 
last  farewell  to  the  convent  where  most  of  tlusm  had  devoted 
themselves  to  tho  austerities  of  a  religious  life.  On  the  next 
day  they  reached  Baltimore,  and  after  otfering  a  short  prayer 
at  tho  cathedral,  hastened  to  inclose  themselves  in  their  new 
cloister. 

Tho  Carmelites  had  for  several  years,  as  ono  of  their  chaplains, 
the  Abbo  llorard,  a  French  priest  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  had 
left  Framo  for  Guiana  in  1*784,  and  withdrew  to  tho  United 
States  during  the  revolution.  Ho  was  long  their  most  active 
benefactor,  gave  them  a  considerable  sum  towards  building  their 
chapel,  and  loft  them  a  legacy,  the  income  of  which  still  sup- 
ports their  chaplain.  Tho  Carmelites  at  Baltimore  now  number 
twenty  sisters,  and  their  contemplative  life  doubtless  averts  tho 
scourges  of  God  Irom  tho  land  where  his  name  is  so  dishonored.* 

About  1792  some  Poor  Clares,  driven  from  Franco  by  tho 
hon'ors  of  the  revolution,  sought  a  refuge  in  Maryland.  Their 
names  were  Marie  do  la  Marche,  Abbess  of  the  Order  of  St.  Clare, 

Celeste  la  Blonde  do  la  Rochofoucault,  and do  St.  Luc,  and 

they  were  assisted  by  a  lay  brother  named  Aloxis.     They  took 


I'-.. 


*  Catholic  Magazine,  viii.  24,  38.  Tiio  Curmclito  Nuns  wcro  founded  by 
tho  Blessed  John  Soreth,  a  Norman,  tho  twonty-sixth  Genenil  and  first  ro- 
Ibrmcr  of  the  CiirinclitOR.  They  wcro  instituted  by  a  Bull  of  Popo  Nieholiis 
V.  in  1542.  The  Carmelite  Nuns  wcro  reformed  by  St.  Theresa  in  1562,  and 
the  Spanish  reform  introduced  into  France  by  Madame  Acaric  in  1G03. 


■   t 


IN  THK    UNITED  STATKM. 


79 


ind 

)0k 


\\[»  llioir  ahodo  at  ^Jcorgctown,  altlioiigh  it  is  covtaiii  tliat  lliey 
liatl  a  house!  also  at  Frederick,  as  wo  Icani  from  tlu!  will  of  the 
vi'iuTahU'  AMh'ss,  tiatod  in  lyoi,  ami  ina<l«!  in  favor  of  SiHtor  do 
1h  UoclK'foiU'aidt.  It  is  prcsorvt'd  at  (lio  Vi.sitatioii  Convent, 
lioorgetf)wn,  and  bogius  in  those  words:  "I,  Mary  do  la  Marchc, 
Ahhoss  of  tlio  Order  of  St.  (Maro,  formerly  of  tho  village  of  Sours 
in  Kranoo,  and  now  of  Frodoricik  in  Maryland." 

In  1801  they  i)ur(di;ised  a  lot  on  Lafayette-street,  in  George- 
town, of  .John  Threlkcld,  the  d(!ed  l»eing  dated  on  the  first  of 
August.  The  good  sistom  hud  the  consolation  to  bo  near  tho 
college,  which  secured  thein  religious  aid.  They  endeavored  to 
support  theniRolvos  at  Georgetown  by  opening  a  scIuk)1,  but  they 
had  constantly  to  struggle  with  poverty  ;  and  on  the  death  of  tho 
Abbess  in  1805,  Madame  de  la  Uochefoucault,  who  succeeded 
her,  sold  tho  convent  to  Bisliop  Neale  by  deed  of  June  29th,  1 805, 
and  returned  to  Europe  with  her  companion.  As  we  saw  in  tho 
last  chapter,  tho  four  brothel's  Nealc,  who  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  had  a  sister,  a  Poor  Clare,  at  Aire  in  Artois ;  and  it  would 
seem  natural  that,  when  tho  convents  in  France  were  suppressed, 
she  and  her  companions  should  take  refuge  in  Maryland ;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  show  that  she  ever  returned  to  America.  It 
doubtless  did  not  enter  the  designs  of  Providence  that  the  Order 
of  St.  Clare  should  take  root  in  the  United  States,  reserving  all 
its  benedictions  for  the  Order  of  the  Visitation.* 

Miss  Alice  t^alor,  who  was  the  foundress  of  the  Visitation  Nuns 
in  America,  was  born  about  IVGG  in  Queen's  county,  Ireland,  of 
pious  and  worthy  parents.  She  was  brought  up  at  Kilkenny, 
whither  her  family  removed  when  young  Alice  was  still  a  child. 


by 

I  re- 
ikis 
ind 


*  The  Poor  Clares,  a  brunch  of  tho  Franciscan  Order,  were  founded  in 
Italy  in  1212  by  St.  Clare  Scilia.  St.  Francis  of  Assissium  gave  them  tlieir 
rule  in  1224.  Reformed  by  St.  Colette  in  1435,  the  Poor  Clares  are  extremely 
austorc;  they  fast  every  day,  never  taking  more  than  a  single  meaJ,  except 
on  Christinas-day. 


80 


THE   CATHOLIC   ClIUKCH 


1? 


-   t 


She  was  distinguished  from  her  hrotliors  mid  sisters  by  her  extra- 
ordinary devotion,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  virtue  under  the 
direction  of  the  liov.  Mr.  Carroll,  the  parish  priest  of  the  place. 
Dr.  Lanigan,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  having  ^nsited  Kilkenny 
when  AHce  Lalor  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  the  young  maiden 
consulted  that  prelate  on  her  desire  of  uniting  herself  to  God  by 
the  vow  of  chastity ;  and  after  having  her  sincerity  put  to  the 
test,  she  received  permission  to  follow  her  design,  but  without  yet 
leaving  her  fiimily. 

Alice  thiis  lived  some  years  in  the  world,  till  Bishop  Lanigan, 
wishing  to  form  a  religious  community  at  Kilkenny,  invited  her 
to  join  it.  8he  accepted  with  joy,  but  was  opposed  in  her  voca- 
tion by  the  will  of  her  parents,  who  had  then  made  up  their 
minds  to  emigrate  to  America,  and  who  would  not  consent  to 
part  with  their  daughter.  She  accordingly  came  out  with  them 
in  1797,  after  having  promised  the  prelate  to  return  to  Ireland  in 
two  years,  to  embrace  the  religious  state.  Such  was  not,  how- 
ever, the  design  of  the  Almighty  on  his  faithful  handmaid.  Sho 
settled  at  Philadelphia  with  her  family,  and  here  confided  her 
projects  to  Father  Leonard  Neale,  whom  she  took  as  her  director. 
He  had  long  wished  to  found  a  religious  community  at  Philadel- 
phia, although  he  was  yet  undecided  what  order  would  best  suit 
the  country.  He  showed  Miss  Lalor  that  America  needed  her  de- 
votednesr  far  more  than  Ireland  did ;  and  being,  as  her  confessor, 
invested  with  the  necessary  powers,  he  released  her  from  her 
promise.  Obedient  to  his  counsels,  Alice  joined  two  other  young 
Avomen  of  Philadelphia,  animated  by  a  similar  vocation  to  the 
religious  state.  She  left  her  family  to  begin  under  Father  Neale's 
direction  •  -louse  for  the  education  of  girls.  But  the  new  institu- 
tion had  scarcely  begun  when  the  yellow  fever  opened  its  fearful 
ravages  in  Philadelphia.  Many  of  the  people  fled  from  the  scourge, 
and  among  them  the  parents  of  Miss  Lalor.  They  used  the  most 
touching  appeals  to  induce  her  to  accompany  them,  but  she  re- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


81 


mainetl  unsliaken  at  her  post,  and  beheld  her  two  companions 
carried  off  by  the  pestilence,  without  being  discoui'aged  in  her 
resolution  of  devoting  herself  to  God. 

In  1799  Fatlier  Neale  having  been  appointed  President  of 
Georgetown  College,  persuaded  Miss  Lalor  to  retire  to  the  Chirist 
convent  in  that  city,  so  as  not  to  be  exposed  to  the  world  which 
she  had  renounced.  She  left  PhiL.delphia  with  a  pious  lady,  and 
both  rendered  all  the  service  they  could  to  the  Poor  Clares  as 
teachers.  Their  diiector  soon  advised  them  to  open  a  school  by 
themselves,  which  they  did ;  and  their  rising  institute  received  an 
accession  in  another  Philadelphia  lady,  who  brought  a  small  for- 
tune. It  was  employed  partly  in  acquiring  a  wooden  house,  tho 
site  of  which  is  still  embraced  in  the  convent  grounds.  Father 
Neale,  on  becoming  coadjutor,  continued  to  reside  at  Georgetown, 
where  he  bestowed  on  his  spiritual  daughters  the  most  active  so- 
licitude. The  holy  prelate  incessantly  offered  his  prayers  to  God 
to  know  to  what  rule  it  was  most  suitable  to  bind  the  new  society. 
He  had  a  great  predilection  for  the  Visitation,  founded  by  St. 
Fi'ancis  of  Sales,  and  a  circuinstan(;o  convinced  both  him  and 
Miss  Lalor  that  in  this  he  followed  the  designs  of  God.  Among 
some  old  books' belonging  to  the  Poor  Clares,  they  fomid  the 
complete  text  of  the  Rules  and  Constitution  of  the  Visitation, 
although  the  poor  sisters  were  wholly  unaware  that  they  had  ever 
possessed  the  volume.  Bishop  Neale  failed,  however,  in  his  en- 
deavors to  obtain  the  aid  of  some  nuns  from  Europe  in  order  to 
form  his  American  novices  to  the  rule  of  St.  Frances  de  Chantal. 
Many  Catholics  blamed  the  project  of  establishing  a  nev.'  religious 
community  in  the  United  States,  fearing  to  excite  the  fanaticism 
of  the  Protestants.  Pishop  Carroll  advised  Miss  Lalor  and  her 
companions  to  join  the  Carmelites  of  Port  Tobacco.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  wealthy  lady  offered  to  go  to  Ireland  at  her  own 
expense,  and  bring  out  nuns,  if  Bishop  Neale  would  decide  in 
favor  of  the  Ursulines.     The  zeidous  coadjutor,  however,  refused 

4* 


82 


TIIK   CATHOLIC   CIIUUCH 


J  1 

1 ,11 


I'!: 


these  offers,  believing  tlint  the  institute  of  the  ^'isitation  was  best 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  CathoHcs  in  the  United  States. 

We  liave  stated  that  Bishop  Neale  had  bought  the  Chirist 
convent  on  their  departure  for  Europe  in  1806.  lie  immediately 
installed  the  "Pious  Ladies"  there  (for  by  that  name  the  future 
Visitation  Nuns  were  known  in  Georgetown),  and  by  deed  of 
Juno  9,  1808,  confirmed  June  9,  1812,  transferred  the  property 
to  Alice  Lalor,  Maria  McDormott,  and  Mary  Neale. 

In  1814  the  sisters  numbered  thirteen,  and  their  fervor  induced 
their  holy  director  to  permit  them  to  take  simple  vows  to  be  re- 
newed every  year. 

Up  to  this  time  Bishop  Neale  had  been  the  only  Suj)orior  of 
the  community,  but  he  deemed  it  proper  to  invest  one  of  the 
sisters  with  authority  over  her  companions,  and  Miss  Lalor  was 
called  to  the  important  post. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Visitation  nuns  in  the  United 
States :  nor  is  it  without  striking  points  of  resemblance  to  its 
foundation  in  Europe.  The  euergy  and  perseverance  of  ]3ishop 
Neale  recall  the  pious  efforts  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  for  the  same 
lioly  enterprise.  In  both  cases  a  bishop  gave  the  first  impulse  ; 
in  both  hemispheres  an  isolated  lady  lays  the  first  founc  tion, 
undeterred  by  any  obstacle  ;  and  if  in  Europe  the  Visitation  ^oon 
opened  its  convents  in  twenty  diftereut  spots  in  France,  so  in 
America  the  Mother  house  at  Georgetown  has  now  branches  of 
the  order  at  Baltimore,  Mobile,  St.  Louis,  Washington,  lirooklyn, 
and  Wheeling;  and,  in  these  various  convents,  now  numbers  over 
three  Imndi-ed  nuns.  But  it  was  not  without  new  and  severe  tri- 
als that  Alice  Lalor's  house  acquired  this  remarkable  development, 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  sequel. 

The  nine  convents  which  now  exist  in  the  United  States,  all, 
or  nearly  all,  filiations  of  the  Georgetown  convent,  have  boarding- 
schools  or  day  schools  for  girls  of  the  higher  as  well  as  of  the 
poorer  class.     The  education  received  in  their  schools  is  remark- 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


83 


ably  good,  and  the  work  of  Miss  Alice  Lalor  is  an  immense  ben- 
efit to  America.* 

The  same  is  true  of  that  to  which  Mrs.  Setou,  the  foundress  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the  United  States,  devoted  herself ;  and 
if  Miss  Lalor  reminds  us  of  a  St.  Frances  de  Chantal,  Mrs.  Seton 
will  frequently  recall  the  remembrance  of  Madame  Le  Gras,  the 
pious  instrument  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  Elizabeth  Bay  ley  was 
born  at  New  York,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1774,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty  married  a  respectable  merchant  named  William  Seton, 
of  a  Scotch  family,  whose  chief  is  now  Lord  Winton.  Like  her 
parents  and  husband,  she  belonged  to  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  but 
she  nurtured  much  piety  amid  her  Protestantism,  and  so  merited, 
that  God  gave  her  the  grace  of  embracing  the  truth.  A  voyage 
undertaken  under  sad  auspices,  led  to  her  conversion.  Mr.  Seton's 
health,  broken  by  cares  arising  out  of  the  mercantile  difficulties 
of  the  day,  induced  his  physicians  to  order  him  to  Italy ;  but  it 
was  ioo  late.  Soon  after  reaching  Pisa,  in  1803,  he  expired, 
leaving  his  widow  to  provide  for  five  young  children.  In  her 
misfortune  and  isolation,  in  a  foreign  land,  Mrs.  Seton  found  a 
Providence  in  the  family  of  the  brothers,  Philip  and  Anthony 
Filicci,  two  Leghorn  merchants,  who  had  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  her.  Not  satisfied  with  welcoming  her  to  their  roof,  the 
Messrs.  Filicci  were  more  sensible  to  the  wants  of  her  sou'  than 
to  the  grief  of  her  heart,  and  the  virtues  of  the  desolate  widow 
inspired  an  ardent  desire  to  behold  her  a  Catholic.  Mrs.  Seton 
was  not  disinclined,  and,  indeed,  whether  at  Pisa  or  Florence,  felt 


*  On  the  6tli  June,  1610,  Madame  de  C'hantnl  aud  her  companions,  under 
the  direction  of  St:  Francis  of  Sales,  founded  the  order  of  the  Visitation  of 
our  Lady,  at  Annec',  ju  Savoy.  The  Constitutions  were  approved  by  Pope 
Urban  VIII.,  1626.  Tiio  name  of  "Visitation"  was  at  first  given  by  the 
Bishop  of  Geneva  to  a  congregation  of  Hermits  of  the  Visitation,  founded  in 
1608  on  Mount  Vooron,  in  Ci'amblais,  to  visit  the  ancient  sanctuary  dedi- 
cated to  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  that  mountain,  and  which  had  been  long 
vouerated  in  the  country. 


I . 


84 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUKUH 


li-  h)^ 


il'<  ) 


i'l  ■ 


i '  I 


lil^ 


ever  attracted  to  the  chiirclies.  The  two  brothers  accordingly 
undertook  to  instruct  her,  with  a  zeal  beyond  all  praise,  and  the 
collection  still  preserved  of  their  letters  and  reli<riou3  treatises 
composed  to  clear  the  doubts  of  Mrs.  Seton,  give  the  highest  idet 
of  the  merit  ol'  these  honorable  merchants.  Mrs.  Seton  had 
brought  with  her  to  Italy  only  her  eldest  daughter;  she  war 
therefore  anxious  to  return  to  her  other  children,  and  Anthony 
Filicci  was  devoteo  enough  to  embark  with  her,  to  continue  th« 
work  of  so  desirable  a  conversion.  On  arrixnng  at  New  York, 
Mrs.  Setou  frankly  avowed  her  design  to  her  family,  but  met  a 
formidable  opposition.  They  appealed  to  her  interest,  aftection, 
self-love,  to  shame  her  of  a  creed  professed  at  New  York  only, 
they  said,  by  "  low  Ii'ish."  This  did  not  suffice ;  they  j)laced 
near  her  the  Rev.  John  Henry  Ilcbart,  afterwards  Protestant 
Bishop  of  New  York,  and  that  gentleman  undertook  to  show  her 
the  errors  of  the  Catholic  religion.  But  Mrs.  Setou  sought  other 
counsels  from  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  and  the  distinguished 
clergymen,  the  Abbes  Cheverus  and  Matignon,  who  had  sought 
a  refuge  in  Ameiica.  At  last,  regardless  of  all  human  considera- 
tions, Mrs.  Seton  made  her  abjuration  on  the  14th  of  March,  1805, 
in  St.  Peter's  church,  the  first,  and  long  the  only  Catholic  church 
in  the  State  of  New  Yoik. 

This  noble  step  placed  the  courageous  woman  under  her  fami- 
ly's ban;  and  she  found  herself  abandoned  by  her  wealthy  rela- 
tives. To  shield  her  children  from  want,  Mrs.  Seton  opened  a 
school  at  New  York ;  but  she  was  aided  especially  by  the  chari- 
table care  of  the  two  Filicci ;  and  as  long  as  she  lived,  she  re- 
ceived from  these  generous  Italians  an  annual  pension  of  about 
six  hundred  dollars,  not  including  more  considerable  donations 
whenever  she  asked  them,  for  her  oi^phans  and  patients.  In  1808 
Mr.  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Montauban,  and  then  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  having  become  acquainted 
with  Mrs.  Seton,  induced  her  to  go  to  Baltimore  and  open  a 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATEE. 


85 


school  for  girls,  on  a  lot  which  the  Sulpitians  put  at  her  disix)s?jl. 
These  occupations  did  not,  however,  fill  up  the  zeal  of  the  young 
widow  :  she  longed  to  consecrate  her  life  to  God,  and  the  assist- 
ance of  the  poor.  Unfortunately,  she  had  l  o  resources  to  found 
a  religious  establishment,  when  a  young  convert,  Mr.  Samuel 
Cooper,*  who  was  studying  for  the  priesthood  at  Baltimore, 
informed  Mr.  Dubourg  of  his  resolution  to  employ  his  fortune  in 
good  works.  This  coincidence  of  views  seem  to  indicate  the 
designs  of  P'-ovidence  ;  and  with  the  approbation  of  Bishop  Car- 
roll, some  land  was  purchased  near  Emmitsburg,  in  Maryland, 
and  buildings  begim  for  a  convent  of  Sisters  of  Charity.  Mrs. 
Seton  was  already  certfun  of  four  associates,  and  they  took  the 
religious  habit  together,  at  Emmitsburg,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1809.  Mr.  Dubourg  immediately  endeavored  to  procure  from 
France  the  Rules  and  Constitution  of  the  Sisters  of  St,  Vincent  of 
l\iul,  in  order  to  give  them  to  his  new  community.  Mrs.  Seton 
also  desired  that  some  Sisters  of  Charity  should  come  over  from 
PVance,  to  instruct  them  in  their  duties,  and  the  spirit  of  their 


*  Samuel  Cooper,  born  in  Virginia,  of  Trotestant  parents,  at  first  fol- 
lowed the  sen,  and  visited  various  parts  of  the  globe.  Having  fallen  dan- 
gerously ill  at  Paris,  ho  began  to  reflect  on  the  truths  of  faith,  and  after 
several  years  of  study,  he  embraced  Catholicity,  in  the  fall  of  1807,  at 
rhiladeli)hia,  during  a  visit  of  Bishop  Carroll  to  that  city.  He  entered  the 
Seminary  at  Baltimore  in  September,  180S,  then  went  to  Italy,  was  ordained 
priest  at  Baltimore,  August  15,  1820,  and  became  pastor  of  the  congregation 
a*  Emmitsburg.  He  remained  there  only  nine  months,  and  then  exercised 
the  holy  miniritry  in  Sout'i  Carolina.  He  subsequently  made  a  pilgrinuigo 
to  the  Holy  Land,  was  employed  in  various  stations  in  the  dioceses  of  Bal- 
timore and  Philadelphia,  and  in  1822  returned  to  France  on  account  of  his 
health.  The  friendship  with  which  Archbishop  Cheverus  honored  him, 
induced  him  to  make  Bordeaux  his  residence.  He  attended  the  illustrious 
Cardinal  on  his  death-bed,  and  departed  this  life  himself,  at  Bordeaux,  on 
the  16th  of  December,  18-io,  reduced  almost  to  indigence  by  his  inexhaust- 
ible charities.  He  eft'ectcd  nun^.erous  conversions  at  Bordeaux  :  among 
others,  that  of  Mr.  Strobel,  the  American  Consul,  who  is  now  a  priest  in 
the  diocese  of  Philadelphia.— White's  Life  of  Mrs.  Seton,  246,  505.  liist 
of  Priests  ordained  at  Baltimore. 


J 


sr 


a- 


IP- ' 


ii' 


8G 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


order.  Tlie  Abbe  Flaget,  about  sailiug  for  France,  was  intrusted 
with  the  negotiation,  and  found  the  mother  house  at  Paris  much 
disposed  to  welcome  with  open  arms  the  Sisters  of  Emmitsburg. 
Sister  Mary  Byseray  repaired  to  Bordeaux  in  1810,  in  order  to 
sail  to  Baltimore ;  but  the  imperial  government  threw  obstacles 
in  her  way,  and  refused  the  necessary  passports.  Mrs.  Seton^s 
community  was,  no sxiitheless,  increasing ;  in  1812  it  numbered 
twenty  Sisters,  and  nt  this  period  elections  were  first  held  for  the 
olficos  in  the  house.  The  Superiorship  naturally  devolved  on  the 
venerable  foun  ;•  ,  .s,  and  she  filled  it  till  her  death  with  equal 
mildness  and  lii  .iness.  In  1814,  a  colony  of  the  Sisters  of  Em- 
mitsburg went  to  i  adelphia,  to  take  charge  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum.  In  1817,  the  Bishop  of  New  York  invited  them  also  to 
that  city,  to  gather  the  Catholic  oi-phans.  The  mother  house 
ot  St.  Joseph's,  Emmitsburg,  contained  the  novitiate,  and  a 
boarding-school  for  girls,  which  soon  became  very  flourishing. 

All  the  members  of  Mrs.  Seton's  family  were  not  equally  hostile 
to  her  new  state.  Two  of  her  sisters-in-law.  Misses  Cecilia  and 
Heni'ietta  Seton,  proceeded  to  Emmitsburg,  drawn,  they  believed, 
by  the  desire  of  seeing  their  relative,  and  breathing  the  country 
tiir.  But  they  were  soon  to  be  enlightened  by  grace,  and  by  the 
example  of  Mrs.  Seton's  sanctity,  and  not  only  embraced  the  true 
faith,  but,  undeterred  by  the  poverty  and  privations  of  a  new 
establishment,  both  took  the  veil  as  novices  at  St.  Joseph's. 
Their  faith  was  soon  rewarded,  and  both  exj^ired  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1810.  Mrs.  Seton  had  also  the  affliction  of  closing 
the  eyes  of  two  of  her  daughters,  the  eldest,  Annina,  who  had 
also  taken  the  habit  as  a  Sister  of  Charity,  and  who  died  piously 
in  1812,  at  the  age  of  seventeen;  the  youngest,  Rebecca,  who 
filso  aspired  after  the  moment  when  she  might  vow  herself  to 
God  and  the  poor,  and  wlio  yielded  up  her  fair  soul  in  1816,  at 
the  age  of  fourteen.  Uuman  sorrows,  therefore,  were  not  with- 
held from  Mrs.  Seton ;  but  she  had  the  religious  consolation  of 


i 


IN  THE   UNITED.  STATE-3. 


87 


i 


seeing  her  prayers  heard,  in  the  convcision  of  several  nionibcrs 

of  her  family.     She  died  heisolf,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1821,  at 

the  age  of  forty-seven  ;  and  her  prayers  for  her  kindred  are, 

doubtless,  still  more  ])owerful  with  the  Almighty,  since  she  sees 

him  face  to  face.   Her  nephew,  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  at  first  au 

Episcopalian  minister,  then,  at  the  sacrifice  of  wealth  and  fortune, 

a  Catholic  priest,  is  now  Bishop  of  Newark  ;  her  godchild,  the 

daughter  of  Bishop  Hobart,  and  wife  of  Dr.  Ives,  lately  Protestant 

Episcopal   Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  followed   her  husband's 

example,  and  recently  became,  at  Rome,  a  convert  to  the  true 

faith.* 

The  third  daughter  of  the  holy  widow,  Miss  Catha^ne  Seton, 

took  the  veil  at  New  York  in  April,  1849,  in  the  Order  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  recalls  by  her  virtues  the  example  of  her 
pious  mother. 

On  Mother  Seton's  death  her  community  numbered  fifty.  The 
Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emmitsburg  liave  constantly  increased,  and 
four  hundred  and  fifty  sisters  now  occupy  in  the  United  States 
and  the  British  Provinces  over  forty  establishments,  orphan  asy- 
lums, hospitals,  boarding-schools,  or  residences.  Except  those  in 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Nova  Scotia,  who  still  adhere  to  the 
dress  and  rules  of  Mother  Seton,  tlie  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the 
United  States  have  recently  formed  a  union  with  those  in  Franco, 
and  on  the  25th  of  March,  1850,  assumed  the  habit  worn  by  the 
French  Sisters,  renewing  their  vows  according  to  the  formula 
adopted  in  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  The  Emmitsburg 
community  forms  a  province  of  the  order,  with  an  ecclesiastic  as 
Superior,  and  a  visiting  Superioress.  Those  in  New  York  form  a 
distinct  body,  approved  by  the  Holy  See,  and  have  a  mother- 
house  and  novitiate  at  Mount  St.  Vincent's,  near  Harlem.     They 

^'  Life  of  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Seton,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  I.  White.  New  York, 
1853.  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  S****,  written  by  licrMclf.  Elizabethtown,  1819 : 
published  without  the  authority  of  Mrs.  Seton. 


i«l^^ ", 


(■■ 


88 


TEE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


K'    'I 


II  hi 


•  i 


number  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  and  are  scattered  in  over 
twenty  hospitals,  asyhims,  and  schools  for  rich  and  poor.* 

These  communities  are  not  inferior  in  zeal  and  charity  to  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  in  France  or  elsewhere,  and  have  of'  .n  been  the 
theme  of  Protestant  eulogy .f 

The  Bishop  of  Baltimore  seconded  with  all  his  efforts  the 
foundation  of  these  pious  communities,  and  frequently  visited 
Emmitsburg  on  important  solemnities,  the  taking  of  the  habit,  re- 
newal of  vows,  or  consecration  of  chapels. 

In  his  life,  we  will  not  omit  one  fact  which  has  long  since  led 
to  much  discussion.  In  1803,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  a  brother  of 
Napoleon,  came  to  the  United  States,  in  a  French  frigate,  and 
spent  some  time  here.  Meeting  Miss  Patterson,  a  Protestant 
lady,  in  Baltimore,  he  became  greatly  attached  to  her,  and  asked 
her  hand  in  marriage.  A  day  was  fixed,  but  it  was  deemed  pru- 
dent to  delay  it  for  two  months,  and  then  Bishop  Carroll  himself 
performed  the  ceremony. 

On  Jerome's  return  to  France  the  wrath  of  the  emperor  burst 
upon  him  and  his  wife,  and  tJie  latter  was  compelled  to  return  to 
Maryland.  A  son  was  the  issue  of  this  marriage,  and.  is  really 
the  lawful  heir  of  Jerome.  Napoleon  saw  this  and  sought  to  an- 
nul the  marriage.  He  accordingly  applied  to  Pope  Pius  VII.  on 
the  24th  of  May,  1805.  "By  our  laws,"  says  he,  "the  marriage 
is  null.  A  Spanish  priest  so  far  forgot  his  duties  as  to  pronounce 
the  benediction.  I  desire  from  your  holiness  a  bull  annullinp;  the 
marriage.  It  is  important  for  France  that  there  should  not  be  a 
Protestr.nt  young  woman  so  near  my  person." 

Several  of  these  statements  were  untrue,  but  the  Pontiff  was 


*  The  Sisters  of  Charity  in  Kentucky  are  of  a  different  foundation,  as  wo 
shall  see.    The  Sisters  of  Providence  at  Burlinpton  arc  also  Sisters  of  Cliarity. 

i  The  community  of  Sisters  ol  ZJharity,  servants  of  the  sick  poor,  were 
founded  at  Paris  in  1633  by  Madame  Le  Gras  and  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  It 
now  comprises  over  nine  hundred  Sisters  in  six  hundred  establishments. 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES. 


89 


\ 


not  to  bo  deceived.  In  his  reply  on  •-«  23d  of  June,  \\e  Pontiff 
examines  cand  discusses,  each  in  its  tuiu,  the  several  causes  for 
nullity  put  forward  by  the  emperor.  He  refutes  them  all,  and 
declares  that  none  of  them  can  invalidate  the  marriage,  and  con- 
cludes :  "  Wo  may  not  depart  from  the  laws  of  the  Church,  by 
pronouncing  the  invalidity  of  a  marriage  whi(.'h,  aco  .iul  .  to  the 
declaration  of  God,  no  human  power  can  dissolve.  Were  wo  to 
usurp  an  authority  which  is  not  ours,  we  should  render  oiu'selves 
guilty  of  a  most  abomina^ '  3  abuse  of  our  sacied  nunistry  before 
the  tribunal  of  God  ai.'.  the  whole  Church." 

In  spite  of  this  decided  answer  Napoleon  returned  to  the  point, 
and  plied  entreaties,  menaces,  and  commands,  but  all  in  vain ; 
and  if  the  marriage  was  ever  declared  null,  or  another  performed, 
it  was,  bv  the  Pontiff's  decision,  all  illegal.* 

Bishop  Carroll  had,  moreover,  the  consolation  of  seeing  the 
number  of  Catholics  increased  considerably  by  inimigrntion  from 
Europe,  and  also  by  conversions.  Every  priest  to  whom  he  coukl 
assign  a  post  immediately  beheld  a  Catholic  population  sprirg  up 
around  him,  which  would  have  continued  to  live  aloo^'  %>m  the 
practice  of  religious  duties  as  long  as  it  had  no  priest  net:  to  bring 
them  to  mind.  In  1 806  the  prelate  laid  the  corner-stone  oi  three 
churches  in  Baltimore  alone.  In  1808  he  counted  in  nis  diocese 
sixty-eight  prie-ts  and  eighty  churches,  and  the  progress  of  reli- 
gion made  him  urgently  request  at  Rome  the  division  of  the 
United  States  into  several  bishopncs.  Pope  Pius  VII.  yielded  to 
the  desires  of  the  venerable  founder  of  the  American  biprarchv, 
and  by  a  Brief  of  April  8th,  1808,  Baltimore  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  Metropolitan  See,  and  four  sufiVagan  bishoprics  were 
erected  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  BardstO'  i.  On 
the  recommendation  of  Bishop  Carroll,  the  Abbe  Cheverus  was 
nanu'd  to  the  See  of  Boston,  and  the  Abbe  Fhiffot  to  that  o! 


See  articlo  in  Freeman's  Journal,  Sei>t..  U,  1852.    Nape  leor  ^^ynnrity,  p.  451. 


90 


THE  CATIIOIlvJ   CIIL  ilCIl 


t* 


V  1 


I  - 


hi:  '    1 


fn 


B.'udstown.  Both  had,  for  ovov  twelve  yoars,  evangelized  the 
districts  over  which  they  were  called  hy  the  Supreme  Poiititt'  to 
exercise  episcopal  jurisdiction.  The  Kev.  Michael  Egan,  ot  the 
Order  of  St.  Francis,  was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Father  Luke  Concanen,  of  the  Oi'der  of  St.  Dominic,  to  that 
of  Nev/  York.  The  latter  resided  at  Rome,  and  held  the  posts  of 
Trior  of  St.  Cleniont's  and  Librarian  of  the  Minerva.  He  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  American  missions,  and  it  was  at  his  sugges- 
tion that  a  Dominican  convent  was  founded  in  Kentucky  in  1805. 
lie  had  already  refused  a  mitre  in  Ireland,  but  he  could  not  re- 
sist the  orders  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiti",  who  sent  him  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  New  World ;  and  he  accordingly  received  episcopal 
consecration  at  Rome  on  the  24th  of  April,  1808,  at  the  hands  of 
Cardinal  Antonelli,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda. 

The  new  bishop  travelled  at  once  t  >  Leghorn,  and  subsequently 
to  Naples,  where  he  hoped  to  find  a  \ ers«il  bound  to  the  L^nited 
States.  lie  bore  the  pallium  foi:  Archbishop  Carroll  and  the 
bulls  of  institution  for  the  three  new  lishops.  The  French  au- 
thorities, then  in  possession  of  Naples,  opposed  his  departure,  and 
detained  him  as  a  prisoner,  although  he  had  paid  his  passage. 
The  pretext  of  these  vexations  was  that  Bishop  Concanen  was  a 
British  subject.  The  prelate  could  not  escape  the  rigors  of  the 
police,  and  died  suddenly  in  July,  1810,  poisoned,  it  Avould  seem, 
by  persons  who  wished  to  get  jwssession  of  his  effects  and  the 
sacred  vessels  which  it  was  known  he  had  with  him.* 

This  premature  death  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Church  in 
America,  and  caused  the  utmost  gnef,  as  new  evils  menaced  the 
Vicar  of  Christ  liim.self.  When  Pius  VII.  decreed  the  creation  of 
the  Archbishopric  of  Baltimore,  a  French  anny  occupied  Rome ; 
not,  as  now,  to  befriend  and  protect,  but  to  seize  the  Papal  States 
and  extort  from  the  Supreme  Pontiff  concessions  incompatible 

*  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  New  York,  by  the  Kev. 
J.  R.  Biiyley,  New  York,  1853,  p,  53. 


1 


IN   THE    IMTKl)   STATKS. 


91 


1 


Avitli  the  existonco  '^f  tlie  Cluirch.  In  spite  of  the  diflhulties  of 
tlie  times,  tlie  Holy  Father  was  organizino-  the  Episcopate  iu 
Anieiica  at  the  very  moment  vvlien  tlie  tr(K)p.s  of  Ge'  "•  il  Miollis 
menaced  him  ill  his  pahice.  But  when  the  new  Bi,,,,  '  New 
York  died  at  Naples,  I'ius  VII.  was  no  longer  at  Ronr  i  ide 
for  the  vacancy,  or  see  that  the  bnlls  »jf  the  other  bi    ,  ■.•!-  tied 

then"  destination,     llo  himself  had   been  dragged  oti  I  ho 

Quirinal  on  the  night  of  the  0th  of  July,  1809,  by  General  Ra- 
det's  gendarmes,  and  carried  as  a  prisoner  fii'st  to  Grenoble  and 
Avignon,  then  to  Savona.  Archbishop  Carroll  and  his  clergy 
immediately  consulted  as  to  means  of  communication  with  the 
persecuted  Pontift',  and  the  steps  to  be  taken  to  avuid  being  de- 
ceive .1  by  any  pretended  letters.  Owing  to  these  delays,  the  bulls 
of  April  8,  1808,  reached  Baltimore  only  in  Se2)teinber,  1810, 
and  then  by  the  way  of  Lisbon.  They  were  immediately  put  iu 
execution.  Bishop  Egau,  first  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  was  conse- 
crated on  the  28th  of  October;  Bishop  Cheverus,  first  Bishop  of 
]>oston,  on  the  1st  of  November  ;  and  finally,  l^ishop  Flaget  re- 
ceived episcopal  consecration  on  the  4th  of  November,  1810. 
At  this  last  ceremony  Bishop  Cheverus  delivered  the  sermon,  and 
eloquently  addressed  Archbishop  Carroll  as  the  Elias  of  the  New 
Law,  the  father  of  the  clergy,  the  guide  of  the  chariot  of  Israel  in 
the  New  AVorld :  "  Pater  mi.  Pater  mi,  currus  Israel  et  auiiga 
ejus."  He  extolled  the  merits  of  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  to 
whicli  Bishop  Flaget  belonged,  citing  the  various  testimonies 
given  in  its  honor  at  difterent  times  by  the  assemblies  of  the 
clergy  of  France,  and  the  phrase  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Fene- 
lon  on  his  death-bed,  "  at  that  moment  when  man  no  longer  flat- 
ters ;"  "  I  know  nothing  more  venerable  or  more  apostolical  than 
the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice." 

The  Archbisho})  of  Baltimore  might  now  repose  in  his  glorious 
age,  and  await  with  security  the  moment  when  God  should  call 
him  to  the  reward  of  his  labors,     lie  had  commenced  the  miu- 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


lAl 


I.I 


12.8 

Ui 


1 2.5 

1 2.2 

--  IIIIIM 


1.25 


1.4 


1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


0 

^     m3~,  Mr 


i/.x 


i 


\ 


92 


TUE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


:  \ 


istry  iu  Aineiica  when  Catliolicity  was  persecuted  there,  and  a 
few  poor  missionaries  alone  shared  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  apos- 
tlcship.  lie  now  beheld  the  United  States  an  ecclesiastical  pro- 
vince, and  in  his  .own  diocese  he  had  established  a  seminary, 
colleges,  and  convents;  had  created  religious  vocations  and 
founded  a  national  clergy.  Louisiana,  with  its  Episcopal  See,  its 
convent  and  clergy,  had  also  been  added  to  the  United  States, 
and  was  now  confided  to  one  of  his  clergy  as  its  prelate. 

Yet  the  trials  of  the  Church  in  Europe,  the  prolonged  imprison- 
ment of  Pius  VII.,  filled  with  bitterness  the  last  years  of  the  holy 
and  aged  prelate.  Archbishop  Carroll  lived  long  enough  to  see 
peace  restored  to  the  Church ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
Holy  Father,  on  returning  to  Rome  in  1814,  was  to  name  to  the 
See  of  New  York,  vacant  since  the  death  of  Bishop  Concanen, 
Father  John  Connolly,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  Prior  of  St. 
Clement's.  His  promotion  completed  the  hierarchy  of  the  United 
States.  Soon  after,  the  patriarch  of  that  church,  humbly  begging 
to  be  laid  on  the  ground  to  die,  expired  on  the  3d  of  December, 
1815,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  and  his  death  was  lamented,  not  only 
by  Catholics,  but  also  by  the  Protestants,  who  respected  and  ad- 
mired the  archbishop,  and  mourned  his  death  as  a  public  loss. 

In  person.  Archbishop  Carroll  was  commanding  and  dignified,. 
His  voice  was  feeble,  and  he  was  accordingly  less  fitted  for  the 
pulpit;  but  his  discourses  are  models  of  unction  and  classical  taste. 
He  was  a  profound  theologian  and  scholar,  and  in  conversation 
possessed  unusual  charm  and  elegance.  As  a  prelate  he  was 
eminent  for  learning,  mildness,  yet  a  strict  exactness  in  the  ru- 
brics and  usages  of  the  Church.  His  style,  terse  and  elegant,  was 
generally  admired ;  but  of  his  works,  we  have  only  his  contro- 
versy with  Wharton,  his  Journal,  and  some  discourses  given  in 
Brent's  Life  and  elsewhere. 


1  i !' 


iiy 


IK  TUE   UNITED  STATES. 


98 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


DIOCESE    OF   BALTIMORE — (1815-1828). 


I 


^ 


Most  Eev.  Leonard  Neale,  second  Archbisliop — Most  Rev.  Ambrose  Mar^chal,  third 
Archbishop — Difficulties  of  bis  administration— Progress  of  Catholicity — Bishops  ap- 
pointed for  New  Orleans,  Charleston,  Richmond,  und  Cincinnati— Labors  of  the  Sul- 
pitians— Death  of  Archbishop  Marechal. 

On  the  death  of  the  first  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  in  1815,  the 
United  States  contained  only  eighty-five  priests,  and  of  this  num- 
ber forty-six  were  in  the  Metropolitan  diocese.*  Archbishop 
Leonard  Neale  was  almost  seventy  years  old  when  he  was  left 
alone,  burdened  with  the  Episcopacy,  and  painful  infirmities  de- 
prived him  of  the  strength  Avhich  he  would  have  needed  for  his 
high  functions.  We  have  recounted  the  apostolic  labors  of  the 
missionary  and  coadjutor.  After  braving  the  climate  of  Guiana 
and  the  yellow  fever  of  Philadelphia,  Bishop  Neale  was  to  bear 
in  his  glorious  old  age  the  marks  of  his  toil,  and  he  sought  re- 
pose for  his  last  days  near  the  monastery  of  the  Visitation,  which 
he  had  founded  at  Georgetown.  Yet  when  his  health  permitted, 
and  on  solemn  occasions,  he  appeared  at  Baltimore,  and  devoted 
himself  with  constant  care  to  the  administration  of  his  vast  dio- 
cese. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1816,  the  American  Church  met  with  a 
severe  loss  in  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Nagot,  whose  name  is 
identified  with  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  and 
whom  St.  Sulpice  will  ever  revere  as  one  of  her  most  distinguished 
men.     Of  liis  anival  and  labors  in  founding  the  seminary  and 


*  MSfe.  of  the  late  Bishop  Brute  of  Vincennes. 


i 


?'i' 


94 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


college  at  Baltimore  we  have  already  spoken.  He  was  born  at 
Tours  on  the  19th  of  April,  1734,  and  after  a  careful  education 
at  the  hands  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  entered  the  Congregation  of 
St.  Sulpice,  and  for  a  time  taught  divinity  at  Nantes.  Ill  health 
compelled  his  return  to  Paris,  where  he  directed  the  Little  and 
subsequently  the  Great  or  Theological  Seminary.  His  time  was 
devoted  not  merely  to  the  duties,  but  also  to  the  exercise  of  good 
works.  In  America  he  formed  the  noblest  of  our  early  clergy, 
and  labored  zealously  among  the  French  Catholics.  A  paralytic 
attack  and  subsequent  infirmities  compelled  him  in  1810  to  re- 
sign his  post  as  Superior,  a  step  which  he  had  long  sought  to 
take.  Eminent  as  a  confessor  and  a  preacher,  he  was  a  model  of 
poverty  and  humility.  As  a  writer,  he  was  the  author  of  the 
well-known  "  Tableau  General  des  principales  conversions,"  and 
of  a  Life  of  Mr.  Olier,  the  venerable  founder  of  St.  Sulpice,  as  well 
as  of  a  French  translation  of  the  Catholic  Christian,  Butler's 
Feasts  and  Fasts,  and  many  of  Bishop  Hay's  excellent  works, 
which,  as  is  usual  with  the  followers  of  Mr.  Olier,  all  appeared 
anonymously.* 

The  death  of  this  aged  and  holy  clergyman  wai-ned  the 
archbishop  to  consolidate  the  gi'eat  work  of  his  life,  and  Dr. 
Neale,  immediately  on  his  accession,  had  presented  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  a  petition  requesting  power  to  establish  a 
monastery  of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown,  enjoying  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  religious  houses  of  the  Instit'.ite. 
Pius  VII.  approved  the  motives  of  this  petition  in  1816,  and 
the  venerable  archbishop  had  thus  the  consolation  before  dying 
of  instituting  the  Sisters  at  Georgetown  as  a  regular  community 
of  the  order  founded  by  the  holy  Bishop  of  Geneva  and  St.  Jane 
Frances  de  Chantal.     This  crowned  his  career  on  earth. 

He  again  proved  his  paternal  attachment  to  these  holy  reli- 


^ 


* 


\i 


*  Laity's  Directory  for  1822,  p.  129. 


ilM 


IN   TIIK    UNITED   STATES. 


95 


^ 


gious,  by  giving  tbeiu  as  director  a  priest  full  of  zeal,  the  Abbe 
Cloriviere,*  nephew  of  the  celebrated  Jesuit  of  that  name,  and  le&a 
known  in  France  as  a  priest  than  as  a  royalist  chief  under  the 
name  of  Limoelan. 

Joseph  Pierre  Picot  de  Limoelan  de  Cloriviere  belonged  to  a 
noble  family  in  Brittany,  was  born  at  Broons,  November  4th, 
1768,  and  was  a  schoolfellow  of  Chateaubriand.  Ho  was  an  offi- 
cer in  the  array  of  Louis  XVL  when  the  revolution  broke  out. 
He  embraced  with  ardor  the  Vendean  cause,  was  made  a  Cheva- 
lier of  St.  Louis  in  1800,  and  became  a  Major-general  under 
George  Cadoudal.  Implicated  at  Paris  in  the  affair  of  the  infer- 
nal machine  of  the  3d  Nivose,  against  the  life  of  the  First  Consul, 
Limoelan  escaped  only  by  a  kind  of  miracle  from  the  pursuit  of 
the  police,  and  after  being  long  concealed  in  Brittany,  he  resolved 
to  emigrate  to  America.  Affianced  to  a  young  lady  of  Versailles, 
he  wrote  to  the  family  before  embarking,  to  ask  his  intended  to 
proceed  to  the  United  States  to  celebrate  their  marriage.  The 
lady,  however,  replied  that  at  the  Tieriod  when  Limoelan  was  in 
the  greatest  danger,  she  had  made  a  vow  of  celibacy  if  her  affi- 
anced should  escape,  nnd  she  courageously  sacrificed  her  most 
tender  affiections  to  be  faithful  to  the  promise  which  she  had  made 
to  Heaven.  The  young  officer  was  enlightened  in  turn  by  this 
example,  and  he  entered  the  seminary  at  Baltimore  in  1808.f 
Ordained  in  1812,  De  Cloriviere  was  the  eighteenth  ecclesiastic 
■who  came  from  that  Sulpitian  establishment,  which  has  rendered 
such  service  to  the  Church  in  America.  Archbishop  Carroll,  ap- 
preciating the  consummate  prudence  and  merit  of  De  Cloriviere, 


*  Tlie  Georgetown  MSS.  say,  however,  that  he  was  appointed  Director  by 
Archbishop  Marechal. 

t  St.  Benve  made  Limoelan  figure  in  his  romance  "  Vohipte,"  but  so  dis- 
torted his  character  and  misinterpreted  his  conduct  as  to  provoke  an  an- 
swer from  the  family.  The  young  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  betrothed  was 
Mile.  Jenne  d' Albert.  She  did  not,  however,  complete  the  sacrifice,  as  he 
hrtd  done,  by  consecrating  herself  to  God  iu  the  religious  state. 


96 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIUKCH 


i^i 


'i!i 


r 


I-i  i! 


.  f  '! 


my- 
Ml  ' 


« 


sent  him  immediately  to  Charleston  to  resist  the  usuipation  of 
power  by  the  laity  in  tnat  city.  The  Breton  priest  displayed  no 
less  energy  than  conciliation  in  the  most  difficnlt  circumstances, 
and  after  some  years  of  etlbrt,  succeeded  in  reforming  inveterate 
abuses.  Called  then  to  direct  the  nuns,  he  displayed  the  qualities 
essential  to  his  new  position,  and  he  became  in  a  measure  the 
second  founder  of  the  Visitation.  Before  leaving  the  subject,  we 
may  make  our  closing  remarks  on  the  Order  in  wliich  he  took 
so  lively  an  interest.  In  spite  of  all  efforts,  the  foundation  of 
Alice  Lalor  was  not  shielded  from  new  trials.  In  1824  its  finan- 
cial embarrassments  were  so  great,  and  the  poverty  of  the  com- 
munity Avas  so  extreme,  that  they  came  to  the  sad  resolution  of 
dispersing.  But  God  came  to  their  aid  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  Sisters  had  courageously  made  up  their  minds  to  the  sacrifice. 
A  wealthy  Spanish  merchant  in  New  York,  the  late  John  B.  La- 
sala,  sent  two  of  his  daughters  to  the  Visitation  school,  paying 
several  years'  board  in  advance.  This  timely  aid  enabled  them 
to  await  the  asgistance  which  Mr.  De  Cloriviere's  generosity  pre- 
pared for  them.  He  had  ordered  his  property  in  Brittany  to  bo 
sold,  in  order  to  give  the  proceeds  to  the  Visitation.  The  trans- 
action met  with  delay,  but  he  was  at  last  able  to  carry  out  his 
projects,  and  he  now  built,  at  his  own  expense,  the  academy,  and 
the  elegant  chapel  dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  He 
also  contributed  by  his  donations  to  the  establishment  of  the  free 
school  for  girls. 

"  The  happiness  of  the  Sisters  in  possessing  so  good  a  spiritual 
father  was  not  to  last.  Mr.  Cloriviei-e  had  greatly  contributed  to 
the  glory  of  God,  and  it  now  remained  for  God  to  glorify  him  in 
his  turn.  He  had  placed  the  community  in  a  flouiishing  state, 
and  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its  success.  He  was 
attacked  with  apoplexy,  and  did  not  long  survive  the  stroke.  He 
retained  the  use  of  his  senses,  and  requested  that  they  would 
buiy  him  in  the  middle  of  the  vault,  and  raise  over  his  body  a 


'i 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


97 


tomb,  which  \vo\ikl  serve,  at  the  burial  of  tlie  Sisters,  as  a  resting- 
pUice  for  the  coffin  whilst  the  funeral  ceremony  was  performed. 
lie  had  during  life  been  of  service  to  the  Sisters,  and  wished  to 
be  so  even  after  death."* 

Thus  died,  in  182G,  the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Cloriviero,  leaving  a 
memory  still  in  veneration,!  and  in  his  person  expired  one  of 
those  holy  French  priests  who  may  be  classed  ^mong  the  found- 
ers of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.^ 

After  his  death,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Baltimore,  became 
the  spiritual  director  of  the  Visitation,  a' id  ere  long  he  made  a 
voyage  to  Europe  for  the  good  of  that  c*^mmunity.  The  George- 
town Sisters,  constantly  fearing, that  they  were  remiss  in  the 
exact  observance  of  their  rule,  as  tanght  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales 
and  St.  Frances  de  Chantal,  never  abandoned  the  design  of  having 
among  them  some  nuns  full  of  the  spirit  and  traditions  of  the 
communities  in  France  and  Savov.  Mr.  Wheeler  succeeded  in 
his  mission,  and  in  August,  182'J,  brought  back  with  him  Sister 
Mary  Agatha  Langlois,  of  Mans,  Sister  Magdalen  d'Areges,  of 


*  MSS.  of  the  Visitation,  corarannicatcd  by  the  venerable  Mother  Mary 
Augustine  Cleary,  SuperiorcBs  in  1854. 

+  By  his  will  he  condemned  to  the  flames  the  voluminous  memoirs  which 
he  had  written  on  the  events  in  which  he  had  taken  so  active  a  part  in 
France.  This  clause  was  faithfully  executed  at  his  death,  and  in  an  historical 
point  of  view  is  to  be  regretted.  Mother  Cleary  recollects  that  Mr.  De  Clo- 
rividre  showed  her  the  bundles  containing  the  memoirs,  telling  her  that  at 
the  end  of  every  year  ho  scaled  the  account  of  the  year,  and  never  opened  it 
again ;  and  he  added  that  they  contained  much  of  interest  both  to  history 
and  to  religion. 

X  Bishop  England's  Works,  iii.  253.  Peter  Joseph  Picot  de  Cloriviere, 
the  uncle  of  the  former,  was  born  at  St.  Malo  in  1735,  and  entered  the  novi- 
tiate of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1756,  was  detained  a  prisoner  by  Napoleon 
from  1804  to  1809,  was  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  on  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Society  in  1814,  and  died  at  Paris  in  1824.  In  1790  and  1809,  Bishop 
Carroll,  who  was  very  intimately  connected  with  Father  De  Cloriviero, 
pressed  him  to  come  to  America,  but  the  Father  thought  that  he  could  do 
more  good  in  France  and  in  Paris  itself,  even  during  the  Keign  of  Terror. 
From  the  similarity  of  names,  we  may  infer  that  the  nephew  was  a  godson 
of  the  uncle. 


98 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


»i;  J 


I! 


Fribourg,  and  Sister  Mary  Regis  Mordant,  of  Valence.  These 
three  nuns  remained  three  years  at  Georgetown,  and  then  re- 
turned to  France,  seeing  by  the  religious  spirit  reigning  in  tlio 
community,  and  by  the  exact  observance  of  the  rules,  that  their 
presence  was  no  longer  necessary. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1846,  the  nuns  had  the  affliction  of 
losing  their  venerable  foundress,  known  in  religion  under  the 
name  of  Mary  Theresa. 

"  When  she  was  informed  that  the  doctor  judged  her  in  danger 
of  death,  she  with  a  heavenly  expression  exclaimed,  '  Glory  be  to 
God !'  She  had  no  other  wish  than  that  the  will  of  God  should 
be  accomplished,  and  concluding  that  the  information  implied  the 
Divine  will,  she  rejoiced  at  the  news.  The  good  odor  of  edifica- 
tion she  had  invariably  diffused  around  her  became  nov/  stronger. 
It  was  with  sentiments  of  peculiar  veneration  the  Sisters  ap- 
proached her  bedside.  To  dwell  upon  her  virtues  would  be  to 
make  the  eulogy  of  virtue.  Suffice  it  then  to  say  that,  like  the 
aurora,  they  increased  till  they  reached  meridian  splendor.  Her 
pure  spirit  was  freed  from  the  prison  of  the  body  to  wing  its  flight 
to  the  realms  above.     May  our  death  be  like  to  hers."* 

The  Order  of  the  Visitation  now  comprises  nine  houses  in  the 
United  States,  all  founded  directly  by  the  mother  house  at 
Georgetown,  except  those  at  Wheeling  and  Keokuk.  In  these 
they  have  day  and  boarding  schools  for  young  ladies,  as  well  as 
day-schools  for  the  poor.  The  education  received  in  their  insti- 
tutions is  remarkably  good,  and  the  foundation  of  Miss  Lalor  has 
been  an  immense  service  to  America. 

We  have  thus  followed  to  our  times  this  glory  of  Archbishop 
Neale.     Foreseeing  his  approaching  end,  that  holy  prelate  had  in 


* 


vm- 


^ 


*  We  are  indebted  for  these  precious  details  to  manuscripts  furnished  us 
by  the  venerable  Mother  Mary  Augustine  Cleary,  to  whom  we  hero  express 
our  gratitude  for  the  interest  she  lias  taken  in  our  labors  and  the  aid  which 
Bhe  has  afforded. 


V 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


99 


lop 
in 


k 


•■» 


^ 


1815  petitioned  the  Soveroigu  rontifi'to  associate  to  him  in  the 
a(hniiiiatration  of  his  diocese  Bishop  Cheverus  of  Boston,  with  a 
right  of  succession  to  the  See  of  Baltimore.  Pius  VII.  consented, 
but  wished  first  to  know  how  he  was  to  rephicc  Bishop  Cheverus 
at  Boston.  Archbishop  Neale  invited  the  hitter  to  BaUimore  to 
confer  with  him  on  tlie  intentions  of  the  Holy  Father,  but  Bishop 
Ciieverus  no  sooner  discovered  tlie  motive  than  he  begged  to  be 
left  at  Boston.  He  strongly  urged  the  archbishop  to  take  in 
preference  a  coadjutor,  and  named  several  Jesuits  and  Mr.  Marc- 
chal,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice.  He  also  wrote  on  the  subject  to  tho 
Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide :" 

"  The  Church  of  Boston  has  become  to  me  a  beloved  spouse, 
and  I  have  never  had  a  thought  of  abandoning  her.  It  is  tho 
universal  belief,  as  Avell  as  my  own,  that  the  Catholic  religion 
would  suffer  great  injury  by  my  removal  and  the  appointment  of 
a  new  bishop,  who  would  be  unacquainted  with  and  unknown  to 
the  diocese,  however  superior  his  merits  to  mine.  Baltimore  has 
many  priests  worthier  than  I  am  (I  say  it  from  the  bottom  of  my 
soul  and  before  God),  especially  among  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  whoso 
excellent  qualities,  whose  piety,  zeal,  and  indefatigable  labors  are 
beyond  all  praise.  The  seminary  of  Baltimore  also  offers  men  of 
truly  apostolical  character,  two  of  whom  have  already  been  raised 
to  the  Episcopacy,  and  are  the  delight  and  glory  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States.  I  earnestly  pray,  therefore,  that  some  one 
more  worthy  than  myself  may  be  chosen  for  the  coadjutorship  of 
Baltimore."* 

Archbishop  Neale  at  last  yielded  to  his  friend's  wishes,  and  on 
the  refusal  of  several  Jesuits,  he  asked  the  Holy  See  to  appoint 
Mr.  Marechal  as  his  coadjutor.  As  soon  as  Bishop  Cheverus 
knew  this  decision  he  wrote  to  Rome,  asking  to  remain  at  Boston. 

*  Life  of  Cardinal  Cheverus,  by  the  Eev.  J,  Huen  Dubourg.  Phil.  1839  • 
p.  106.  This  is  translated  by  Robert  Walsh,  Esq. ;  but  the  real  author  is  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Humon,  a  Sulpitian,  as  appears  by  Inter  French  editions. 


100 


THE  CATHOLIC   CIIUKCII 


11  i 


"1  shall  rejoice  to  seo  Mr.  Murochul  pcrfonuinj:^  tlio  Episcopal 
functions  at  Baltimore,  where  he  and  his  brethren  of  St.  Sulpico 
have  Wen  the  masters  and  models  of  the  clergy,  and  have  con- 
ciliated nniversal  I'erjard." 

Pius  VJr.  approved  the  new  arrangement,  and  by  a  brief  of 
July  24,  1817,  he  api)ointed  Mr.  Ambrose  Marochal  coadjutor  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  with  the  title  of  liishop  of  Stauro- 
polis.  But  before  the  date  even  of  the  brief.  Archbishop  Nealo 
liad  sunk  under  liis  infirmities.  He  died  at  Georgetown,  on  tho 
15th  of  June,  1817,  and  his  mortal  remains  were  laid  in  tho  con- 
vent chapel  of  tlio  Visitation,  where  they  still  remain.  "  Thus," 
says  his  biographer,  "thus  in  death  was  ho  placed  where  his 
aftections  were  strongest  in  life ;  and  thus,  in  the  last  honors  to 
his  mortal  remains,  was  preserved  a  parallel  to  the  last  sad  tiibuto 
to  St.  Francis  of  Sales.  The  body  of  Archbishop  Neale  sleeps 
imder  the  chapel  of  the  convent  founded  by  him  in  America; 
that  of  St.  Francis  under  tho  church  of  tho  convent  which  he 
founded  in  Europe.  Annecy  has  her  saint ;  so  may  we  hope  that 
Georgetown  has  hers."* 

Before  his  death  Archbishop  Neale  had  the  satisfaction  of 
learning  that  a  bishop  had  been  consecrated  for  New  Orleans,  and 
that  the  reorganization  of  that  diocese  presaged  better  days  for 
the  Church  in  the  United  States.  A  See  had  been  founded  in 
1793  at  the  capital  of  Louisiana,  then  a  Spanish  province,  and 
the  diocese  had  been  intrusted  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Luis  Penalver  y 
Cardenas,  who  administered  it  from  1795  to  1801 ;  but  as  that 
colony  changed  masters  three  times  in  three  yea's,  great  disorders 
ensued  in  the  ecclesiastical  administration,  and  Archbishop  Car- 
roll, canonically  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  vacant 
See,  could  aftbrd  only  an  imperfect  remedy  to  the  evils  of  that 
church.    The  captivity  of  the  Holy  Father  frustrated  all  hopes  oi 

*  Notice  on  tho  MostEev.  Leonard  Neale,  by  M.  C.  Jenkins,  in  the  Oath 
olic  Magazine  for  1844,  p.  512. 


(it 


I 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


101 


« 


tft 


nny  defiiiilivo  arrangement,  and  tlion  what  authority  could  ho 
exorcised  hy  the  bishojjs  uf  iWiUiuiuro  over  a  city  a  thousand 
•jnilert  off?  TliG  Ahho  Duboin-g,  a  priest  of  Ht.  Sulpico  at  JJalti- 
niore,  had  been  appointed  in  1812  administrator  of  New  Orleans. 
At  last  the  pacitioation  of  the  Church  and  of  Europe,  in  1816,  per- 
mitted the  Holy  Father  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  that  distant  Sec, 
and  Mr.  Dubourg  was  consecrated  ]>ishop  of  New  Orleans  on  (ho 
28th  of  September,  1815,  at  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world.* 

The  bulls  appointing  Archbishop  Maruchal  did  not  reach  Bal- 
timoro  till  the  10th  of  November,  1817,  five  months  after  tho 
death  of  his  venerable  predecessor,  and  ho  was  consecrated  on  tho 
14th  of  December  following,  by  Bishop  Chevcrus  of  Boston. 
Ambrose  Marechal,  thus  raised  to  the  primacy  of  the  American 
Church,  was  born  at  Ingi-e,  near  Orleans,  in  l7G8.f  When  lio 
had  completed  his  classical  course,  he  felt  a  vocation  for  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  but  his  family  opposed  his  designs  so  warmly  that 
ho  at  first  yielded  to  their  desires,  and  began  the  study  of  law, 
intending  to  practise  at  tho  bar.  Tho  young  advocate  soon 
found,  however,  that  ho  was  called  to  a  far  different  life,  and  after 
liaving  shown  all  duo  deference  to  his  family's  wishes,  at  last  en- 
tered tho  Sulpitian  Seminary  at  Orleans.  The  persecutions  of 
revolutionary  France  did  not  shake  his  resolution,  but  he  resolved 
to  depart  from  a  land  that  martyred  its  faithful  clergy,  and  ho 
embarked  at  Bordeaux  for  the  United  States,  with  the  Abbes 
Matignon,  Richard,  and  Ciquard.  It  was  on  the  very  eve  of  his 
embarkation  that  tho  young  Abbe  Marechal  was  privately  or- 
dained, and  such  were  the  horrors  of  those  unhappy  times,  that 
lie  was  even  prevented  from  saying  Mass.  He  celebrated  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  for  tho  first  time  at  J3altimore,  where  he  arrivei 


ICath 


*  Life  of  tho  Rt.  Rev.  B.  J.  FIngct,  hy  M.  J.  Spalding,  i3i;-.hop  of  Loiii;?- 
ville.     Louisville,  1852,  p.  166. 

t  Wemlopt  the  date  given  in  American  hiogmphica  of  the  prelate.  Tho 
Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faitii,  iv.  22-1,  give  as  the  dale  Ihcyeur  17b'2. 


102 


THE  CATiroiJC  ciirRcii 


■m 


'i'  ■      ! 


i 

ml 


III:  '■ 


>vith  his  companioiiH  on  tlio  24tli  of  .Fimo,  1*702.  Tt  was  Mr 
Emery's  iiiteiilion  to  opoti  at  Hallinum!  an  acadoniy  for  niatho- 
inatical  srionccs,  and  Mr.  Maroclial  was  thought  of  as  ono  of  tho 
]»roft'ssors ;  but  this  project  having  hocu  ahaiidoncil,  tlio  yoiuig 
priest  was  suocessivt'ly  sent  as  missionary  to  St.  Mary's  county 
nnd  to  IJohomia.  In  1799  ho  was  called  to  functions  more  in 
harmony  with  his  vocation  as  a  Sulpitian,  and  became  professor 
of  tlieology  at  the  seminary  in  Ualtimorc.  IIo  was  soon  after 
sent  to  teach  philosophy  in  tho  Jesuit  collcfgo  at  Georgijtown,  and 
tlien  returned  to  Baltimore  to  continue  his  courses  of  theology,  in 
which  he  displayed  no  less  science  than  talent.  After  some 
years,  however,  the  seminary  was  deprived  of  tho  services  of  its 
cl(.<juent  professor.  Religious  aflairs  in  Franco  having  assumed  a 
brighter  aspect,  the  Superior  of  St.  Sulpico  recalled  tlio  Abbu 
Maroclial  to  aid  him  in  reorganizing  and  directing  several  houses 
of  the  Society.  Obedience  here  was  easy,  as  it  wafted  him  back 
to  his  native  shores.  Mr.  Marechal  accordingly  arrived  in  Franco 
in  July,  1803,  and  was  employed  with  distinction  in  several  oc- 
clesiastical  institutions,  especially  at  St.  Flour,  Lyons,  and  Aix. 
Those  who  studied  under  him  always  preserved  the  deepest  ven- 
eration, a  proof  of  which  exists  in  tho  rich  present  sent  liim  by 
the  priests  of  Marseilles,  when  they  learned  liis  elevation  to  the 
Episcopacy.  It  consists  of  a  superb  marble  altar,  which  still 
adorns  tho  cathedral  in  Baltimore,  and  which  by  its  inscription 
recalls  the  gratitude  and  affection  of  scholars  for  their  master.* 

*  Tho  inscription  is : 

Hoc  Altaro 

A  Massilicnsibus  SacerJotibus 

Ambr.  Arcliicpo.  Bait. 

Eorum  in  Sacra  Theologia  olim  Profcssori 

Grato  oblatnm 

IpbO  Deo  Salvatori  in  lionorom  ejus  Sanctissimaj 

Matris 

Consccravit  die  Gla  Mali  1821. 

Sec  sketcli  in  Calliolic  Almanac  for  1836.    U.  S.  Catli.  Mag.  for  1845,  p.  82. 


f, 


1 


1 


IN   TUK    I'NITEl)   STATLfl. 


108 


p.  S2. 


Mranwliilo  liis  Aincricjin  tVit'iuls  wrote  constantly,  oxprosHing 
regrot  for  his  aUscnco,  aiid  reminding  liiiii  of  tlu;  good  ho  might 
Btill  be  doing  in  DaUimoro.  When,  thcn-foro,  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment, in  1812,  took  from  the  Sul[)iliana  the  direction  of  tho 
Scminarirs,  the  learne<l  professor  yielded  to  tlio  entreaticH  of  his 
friends,  and  re-endjarked  for  the  United  States,  lie  at  once  re- 
sumed his  old  functions  at  St.  Mary's  Seminaiy,  and  was  for  a 
time  l*resident  of  tho  (.'oll<>ge.  This  lifij  of  study,  so  akin  to  his 
taste,  was  not,  lnjwover,  to  last;  and  in  1810  ho  was  informed 
of  his  nomination  by  the  Sovereign  rontiflf  to  the  see  of  I'hila- 
delphia.  In  vain  did  he  endeavor  to  escape  these  honors  :  it  was 
oidy  to  iiave  far  greater  imposed  uj)on  him  by  pontifical  authority. 
lie  alleged  the  importance  of  leaving  him  at  his  studies,  at  least 
till  the  completion  of  a  theological  work  adapted  to  tho  religious 
condition  of  the  United  States.  But  the  C'hurch  chose  to  employ 
his  merit  in  more  eminent  functions,  and  Mr.  Marcchal  consented 
to  become  Archbishop  of  Ballimore. 

The  earlier  days  of  his  administration  were  thick  sown  with 
trials  of  the  most  painful  character.  Tho  Catholics  in  the  United 
States,  living  amid  a  Protestant  population,  and  influenced  by 
the  surrounding  ideas  of  independence,  have  uot  always  sliovvn 
the  subordination  ever  to  bo  desired  towards  pastors.  The 
temporal  administration  of  the  churches  is  the  source  of  constant 
collisions ;  and  the  laity,  seeing  the  numner  in  which  the  Protest- 
ant churches  are  managed,  too  frequently  usurp  powers  not  their 
own.  Archbishop  Marechal  had  thus  to  struggle  with  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  and  faction,  which  threatened  to  result  in  an 
open  schism.  In  this  diflicult  position,  the  prelate  displayed  that 
zeal,  that  prudence,  that  devotion  to  his  flock,  that  firm  adherence 
to  true  principles,  which  have  ever  characterized  great  bishops, 
and  which  eventually  cliecked  tho  progress  of  the  disorder,  under 
which  the  cause  of  religion  threatened  to  sink.  His  pastoral  in 
1819  showed  the  extent  of  the  evil  and  the  wisdom  of  tho  remedy. 


I 


»:; 


i 


w^ 


^^  ' 


I  I 

I  ! 


■4:   1 

V    '■ 
i''    i 


l[ 


H:;.  ^11 


i 

I 

:! 


11 


104 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


It  laid  down  Avith  preciseiieSvS  the  reciprocal  riglits  and  duties  of 
the  clergy  and  laity ;  it  shows  the  entire  inaptitude  of  the  latter 
to  interfere  in  the  spiritual  govei-nnient  of  the  Church,  and  points 
out  to  the  priests  the  calamities  which  would  afflict  religion,  if 
they  neglected  the  obligations  of  their  sacerdotal  character.  It 
maintains  the  exclusive  right  for  the  episcopal  authority,  of  ap- 
pointing priests  to  parishes  and  for  other  duties,  and  concludes  in 
these  words  :  "  In  the  midst  of  the  troubles  and  j)ersecutions  to 
which  you  are  now,  or  may  hereafter  be  exposed,  be  careful,  after 
the  example  of  the  Saints,  dearest  brethren,  daily  to  entreat  with 
fervor  your  heavenly  Father,  to  take  under  his  sjjecial  protection 
yourselves,  your  families,  your  friends,  your  pastors,  and  all  tho 
Catholics  of  the  United  State?.  The  Church  of  Christ  in  this 
country  is  now  in  affliction.  Dissensions  and  scandals  threaten 
lo  destroy  her  peace  and  happiness.  As  for  you,  dear  brethren, 
strive  to  console  her  by  every  possible  mark  of  respect,  attach- 
ment, obedience,  and  love ;  for  though  surrounded  with  difficul- 
ties, though  even  attacked  by  some  unnaturul  children,  still  she 
is  your  mother,  your  protectress,  your  guide  on  earth,  and  the 
organ  by  which  Divine  mercy  communicates  to  you  the  treasure 
of  His  grace,  and  all  the  means  of  salvation.*" 

Other  obstacles,  of  a  more  personal  chai-acter,  added  to  the 
burdens  of  the  episcopate,  in  the  case  of  Archbishop  Marechal. 
Yet,  his  administration  was  not  without  its  consolations,  not  the 
least  of  which  was  the  continued  success  and  permanent  establish- 
ment of  Mount  St.  Mary's  seminary  and  college.  Of  this  hive 
of  the  American  clergy — for  it  has  given  the  Church  two  arch- 
bishops, eight  bishops,  and  a  large  proportion  of  our  most  zealous 
and  useful  priests — we  must  now  treat.f 

The  Rev.  John  Dubois,  of  whom  we  shall  hereafter  speak  more 
at  length,!  was  stationed,  in   1808,  at  Frederick,  and  once  a 


*  U.  S.  Ciitholio  Magaziiio  for  1845,  p.  3(5. 
t  Metropolitan,  \'ol.  iv.  410. 


X  Pages  101,  397. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


105 


the 

Ichal. 

[t  the 

)lish- 

hive 

irch- 

ilous 

11  ore 

be  a 


month  celebrated  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the  private  chapel  of  Aloy- 
sius  Elder,  Esq.,  as  his  predecessors  had  done  for  many  years. 
The  better  days,  however,  now  justified  the  erection  of  a  church, 
and  the  zealous  priest  began  to  erect,  near  Emmetsburg,  a  church, 
on  a  rising  ground,  which  he  named  Mount  St.  Mary's.  A  church 
did  not  satisfy  his  zeal,  he  sought  also  to  found  a  school,  which 
should  furnish  cawdidates  for  holy  orders;  and,  in  all  humility, 
began  his  labors,  to  carry  out  the  idea  which  he  had  conceived. 
Purchasing  a  log-hut  near  the  church,  he  opened  his  school,  in 
1808,  and  having,  in  the  following  year,  joined  the  Sulpitians,  he 
received  the  pupils  of  their  establishment  a*^  Pigeon  Hill.  His 
little  log-hut,  and  a  small  brick-house  in  the  neighborhood,  no 
longer  sufficed,  so  that  he  purchased  the  present  site  of  the  col- 
lege, and,  erecting  suitable  buildings,  resigned  his  log-cabin  to 
Mother  Scton,  who  made  it  the  cradle  of  her  order. 

The  first  college  at  the  mountain  was  but  a  row  of  log-cabins, 
themselves  the  work  of  several  years'  toil,  for  the  founder  had 
but  little  means.  Yet  all  joined  in  his  labors,  and,  by  their  uni- 
ted eftbrts,  grounds  were  cleared,  gardens  and  orchards  planted, 
and  roads  cut.  In  spite,  however,  of  these  disadvantages,  the 
well-known  ability  of  Mr.  Dubois  drew  pupils  to  his  rural  school, 
though  the  payment  in  kind  often  corresponded  to  the  style  rather 
than  to  the  wants  of  the  establishment.  And  the  school,  though 
strictly  Catholic,  increased,  so  that  its  ever  cheerful  and  laborious 
presiccnt  could  not,  in  1812,  have  had  less  than  sixty  pupils 
imder  his  care.  Of  his  associates  in  the  foundation,  none  de- 
serves a  higher  praise  than  one  whom  Catholics  have  learned  to 
style  the  sainted  Brute,  whose  name  is  no  less  indissolubly  united 
to  Mount  St.  Mary's  than  to  Vincennes,  of  which  he  died  bishop. 
Kemoved,  for  a  time,  to  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  in  Baltimore,  Mr. 
Brute  returned  to  the  Mountain  in  1818,  and,  opening  the  class 
of  theology,  made  the  establishment  a  seminary  as  well  as  a  col- 
lege, thus  giving  it  the  present  form  and  its  present  stability 


5* 


fi 


i. 


It 


.1!  ti 


1 


hi 


i; 


1 


'5    i  '   ■  S' 

!^i  Nil 


t^  ;i! 


•;.j 


106 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


By  this  time,  too,  pupils  bad  become  teacbcrs,  and  the  Rev. 
liogor  Smith,  Nicholas  Kernoy,  Alexius  Elder,  Geoi'gc  Elder, 
fDunder  of  St.  Joseph's  at  Bardstown,  and  William  Byrne,  foun- 
der of  St.  Mary's,  in  the  same  State ;  Cliarles  Constantino  Pise, 
John  B.  Purcell,  now  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati,  John  Hughes, 
now  Archbishop  of  New  York,  with  his  former  coadjutor,  the 
Bishop  of  Albany,  all,  with  many  another  priest  and  prelate, 
taught,  in  their  younger  days,  the  classes  at  the  Mountain. 

Mr.  Brute's  talents,  during  the  next  sixteen  years  which  ho 
spent  here,  availed  the  institution  not  oidy  as  a  professor :  as  a 
treasurer,  bis  method  and  system  extricated  it  from  many  pe- 
cuniary embarrassments,  and  placed  matters  in  a  secure  shape. 

So  complete  had  been  the  success,  and  so  promising  were  now 
their  hopes,  that  Dr.  Dubois,  soon  after  the  separation  from  the 
Sulpitians,  in  1819,  resolved  to  erect  a  stone  edifice  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  his  pnpils.  This  work  Archbishop  Marechal  ap- 
proved and  encouraged.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1824,  a 
liandsome  building,  of  three  stories  high,  and  ninety-five  feet  by 
forty  in  extent,  was  raised  on  the  mountain ;  but,  just  as  all  were 
preparing,  at  Whitsuntide,  to  enter,  to  their  grief  and  regret  it 
was  fired  by  accident  or  design,  and,  in  a  few  hours,  nothing  re- 
mained but  a  mass  of  smoking  ruins.  Undaunted  by  this  disas- 
ter, which  Doctor  Pise  has  embalmed  in  our  memories  in  classic 
verse,*  Dr.  Dubois  at  once  began  the  erection  of  a  new  and 
grander  college.  Great  were  the  trials  it  imposed  upon  him  and 
the  companions  of  his  labors,  but,  aided  by  the  generous  contri- 
butions of  the  neighbo'"^,  and  of  Catholics  in  various  parts,  the 
great  work  was  completed,  just  as  the  illustrious  founder  was 
called  to  occupy  the  see  of  New  York,  in  1826. 

The  Rev.  Michael  de  Burgo  Egan,  a  nephew  of  the  first  bishop 
of  Philadelphia,  now  became  president  of  his  Alma  Mater ;  but 


Metropolitan,  Vol.  iv.  p.  575. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


107 


the  Rev. 
^e  Elder, 
I'lic,  foim- 
tine  Pise, 

Hughes, 
jutor,  the 
I  prelate, 
lin, 

which  ho 
isor :  as  a 
many  pe- 

shape. 
were  now 

from  the 
)r  the  ac- 
echal  ap- 
■  1824,  a 

c  feet  by 
5  all  were 

regret  it 
thinix  re' 
lis  disas- 

n  classic 

ew  and 

liiii  and 
contri- 

irts,  the 

ler  was 

t  bisliop 
er;  but 


liis  health  was  feeble,  and  could  not  second  his  piety  aud  zeal.  A 
voyage  to  Europe  failed  to  restore  him,  aud  he  died  at  Marseilles, 
leaving  the  Society  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  he  founded,  to 
he  the  monument  of  his  gentle  virtue. 

The  present  eminent  Archbisliop  of  Cincinnati,  the  Most  Rev. 
John  B.  Purcell,  was  the  next  president,  and  to  his  exertions  it 
owes  no  little  of  its  present  distinction.  He  obtained  for  the  col- 
lege a  charter  of  incorporation  from  the  Legislature,  aud,  import- 
ing costly  apparatus,  established  all  that  was  needed — classes  of 
the  natural  sciences.  The  commencements  of  the  institution, 
which  date  from  this  period,  are  always  attended  with  interest, 
and  prove  the  ability  with  which  it  has  been  directed  by  the 
Rev.  Francis  B.  Jameson,  the  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Butler,  and  by  its 
present  president,  the  Rev.  John  McCaffrey.* 

While  the  illustrious  Dubois  was  consolidating  a  work  so  im- 
portant to  his  diocese,  Archbishop  Marechal  was  still  more  con- 
soled by  the  increase  of  Catholics,  and  by  the  nuftibers  whom  the 
clergy  found  in  sections  where  they  least  expected  to  meet  any. 

It  will  not  be  useless  to  define  here  in  what  this  increase  of  the 
Catliolic  population  consists,  of  which  we  must  render  an  account 
periodically  in  each  diocese,  and  which  has  made  it  necessary  to 
multiply  the  bishops  from  one  to  forty  in  the  space  of  sixty 
years.  The  immigration,  chiefly  from  Ireland,  scattering  over  the 
country,  presented  on  all  sides  little  congregations  ready  for  a 
pastor.  When  he  came.  Catholics,  or  the  children  of  Catholics 
who  had  almost  lost  the  faith  in  the  absence  of  religious  teachers, 
gathered  around,  and  converts  came  silently  dropping  in,  chiefly, 
however,  from  the  more  enlightened  classes.  The  mass  of  the 
American  people  have  not  been  reached.  In  vain  did  Thayer 
and  the  Barbers,  in  early  times,  and  other  eminent  converts 
since,  present  the  faith  to  their  countrymen  ;    the  number  of 


*  The  Metropolitan,  iv.  410.    United  States  Catliolic  Magazine,  v.  86. 


108 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


•i 


\ 


J 

ml 


•J      '■     ' 


H     ' 


li% 


those  who  listen  or  examine  is  extremely  small.  To  save  tlie 
scattered  Cjitholics  and  their  children  is,  and  will  be  for  a  time, 
the  great  effort  of  the  limited  number  of  the  clergy. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  now  called  for  a 
division,  and  in  1818  the  Rev.  llobert  Browne,  an  Irish  Augusti- 
nian,  who  had  been,  for  many  years,  a  missionary  at  Augusta,  in 
the  State  of  Georgia,  proceeded  to  Rome,  bearing  a  i>etition  from 
the  Catholics,  soliciting  the  erection  of  a  new  diocese,  to  comprise 
the  States  of  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia ;  for  though 
few  and  scattered,  the  Catholics  were  so  remote  from  the  episco- 
pal See,  that  their  interests  were  unavoidably  neglected. 

The  Holy  See  examined  the  question  with  its  usual  maturity, 
and  resolved  to  erect  Virginia  into  a  diocese  of  which  Richmond 
should  be  the  episcopal  See,  and  the  two  Caroliiias  and  Georgia 
into  another,  the  bishop  of  which  should  reside  at  Charleston. 
To  the  latter  See  the  Holy  Father  appointed  the  Rev.  John  Eng- 
land, pastor  of  Brandon,  in  the  diocese  of  Cork,  who  was  already 
favorably  known  in  the  United  States.  Of  this  diocese,  under 
his  able  rule,  we  shall  elsewhere  speak.  Of  the  progress  of  reli- 
gion in  those  States  prior  to  his  appointment,  a  few  words  will 
suffice.  Catholic  emigrants,  at  an  early  day,  settled  at  North 
Carolina,  and  as  early  as  173*7  are  said  to  have  had  a  priest  at 
Bathtown,  on  the  Pimlico,  around  which  they  lay  chiefly.* 

At  the  Revolution,  however,  these  seem  to  have  disapjieared, 
and  few  Catholics  could  be  found  in  the  States  where  the  Catho- 
lics, De  Kalb  and  Pulaski,  fought  and  fell. 

A  French  priest  accompanied  some  fugitives  from  St.  Do- 
mingo towards  the  close  of  the  century,  and  other  priests,  among 
whom  we  may  note  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Gallagher,  the  opponent  of 
WhartoD,f  and  Father  Brown,  first  labored  among  the  other 
Catholics. 


^\ 


*  Bickaell's  Nat.  Hist,  of  N.  Carolina.   Dublin,  1737.        t  See  p.  374-5. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


109 


Do- 


Viigiiiia  was  allotted  by  the  Holy  Father  to  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  Patrick  Kelly,  then  president  of  Birchfield  College,  near 
Kilkenny.  That  prelate  was  accordingly  consecrated  and  came 
to  America  in  1821.  Here  he  found  nothing  prepared  to  receive 
him,  and  Archbishop  Marechal  opposed  to  tlic  separate  adminis- 
tration of  the  newly  erected  diocese.  As  the  Archbishop  had 
already  written  to  Rome  to  urge  his  views,  Dr.  Kelly  remained 
at  Norfolk,  laboring  zealously  on  the  mission,  and  directing  a 
school  which  he  had  opened.  When  the  Holy  See  at  last  as- 
sented to  the  request  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  Dr.  Kelly, 
now  appointed  to  the  united  sees  of  Waterford  and  Lismore,  re- 
turned to  Ireland,  and  directed  the  two  dioceses  till  his  death,  on 
the  8th  of  October,  1829. 

The  diocese  of  Richmond,  thus  erected  in  1821,  continued  to 
be  administered  by  the  Archbishops  of  Baltimore  for  twenty 
years,  nor  did  any  bishop  sit  in  Richmond  till  1841,  when  the 
present  Bishop  of  Wheeling  was  appointed  to  the  See. 

While  the  extensive  diocese  of  Baltimore  was  thus  subdivi- 
ded. Bishop  Flaget,  of  Bardstown,  was  also  soliciting  at  Rome  the 
division  of  his;  and  by  his  Bull  of  June  19th,  1821,  Pius  VH. 
founded  the  See  of  Cincinnati,  and  called  to  it  Father  Edward 
Fenwick,  a  Marylander,  and  long  a  Dominican  missionary  in 
Kentucky.  The  new  bishop  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Flagct, 
January  13th,  1822,  at  St.  Rose's  Convent,  Kentucky;  and  thus, 
at  the  commencement  of  1822,  the  United  States  were  divided 
into  nine  dioceses,  viz. : 

1.  Baltimork,  comprising  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. 

2.  Boston,  comprising  the  six  New  England  States. 

3.  New  York,  comprising  the  State  of  New  York  and  half  of 
New  Jersey. 

4.  Philadelphia,  compiising  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
half  of  New  Jersey. 


lit 


*      i 


f  >'. 


I' 


1^ 


11 


m 


M 

3 


i 


110 


Tl;K  CATirOTJO  CHURCH 


5.  Baudstown,  comprising  Kentucky  .ind  Tennessee. 

G.  (yiiAiiLKHTOx,  comprising  the  two  CriroHnas  and  Georgiii. 

7.  KiciiMONi),  comprising  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  admiuis* 
tercd  by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

8.  Cincinnati,  comprising   Ohio,  Michigan,   and   Northwest 
Territory. 

9.  New  Ouleans,  comprising  Louisiana,  Mississi[)|)i,  and  Mis- 
souri. 

Archbishop  Marechal  had  the  consolation  of  opening  for  divine 
Avoiship  the  cathedral  of  Baltimore,  which  had  been  begun  by 
Archbishop  Carroll  eighteen  years  before.  On  the  31st  of  May, 
1821,  this  beautiful  church  was  solemnly  dedicated,  and  its  IJy- 
zantine  architecture,  though  not  a  model  of  taste,  is  not  destitute 
of  grandeur  in  its  proportion.  Its  situation  on  the  summit  of  a 
]\vramidal  hill,  on  v/hich  the  houses  of  the  city  are  built,  gives  to 
I'altimore  the  aspect  of  an  entirely  Catholic  city,  where  the 
cathedral  towers  above  all  the  other  monuments,  as  in  our  Euro- 
pean cities.  The  archbishop  obtained  in  France  numerous  pres- 
ents, a  painting  and  vestments,  with  which  he  adorned  the  temple 
that  he  had  raised.  Archbishop  Marechal  could  here  dis})lay  all 
the  pomp  of  our  worship,  being  aided  by  the  Sulpitians  of  the 
seminary,  who  had  preserved  all  the  traditions  of  the  ceremonial, 
Nothing  is  more  desirable  than  thus  to  surround  religion  with 
the  dignity  which  is  its  noblest  apanage.  The  poverty  of  tlie 
sanctuary,  or  their  narrow  precincts,  too  often  deprives  the  faith- 
fid  in  the  United  States  of  the  most  imposing  solemnities.  The 
fd)sence  of  ceremonies  likens  our  churches  to  the  coldness  of  secta- 
rian halls,  but  the  pomp  of  worship,  while  it  revives  the  faith  of 
Catholics,  produces  a  salutary  impression  on  such  of  our  separated 
brethren  as  witness  it.  Nothing  is,  then,  more  desirable  than  to 
see  large  churches  multiplied  in  the  United  States,  and  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  was  one  of  the  first  to  appreciate  the  advantage 
which  religion  might  derive  from  them. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


ii: 


lay  all 
of  the 
nonial, 

widi 
of  tlie 
faith- 

Tlie 
secta- 
lith  of 
arated 
lan  to 
Arch- 
ntage 


The  Society  of  St.  Sulpico,  which  was  initiating  the  American 
dci'gy  in  the  study  of  theology  as  well  as  in  the  rubrics  and  cere- 
monial, at  one  time  assumed  a  great  development  in  tlio  United 
States.  At  Baltimore  they  had  directed,  since  1*791,  the  seminaiy 
and  the  college  of  St.  Mary's;  in  1806,  the  Abbe  Dillet  founded, 
at  Pigeon  Hills  in  Pennsylvania,  a  college  intended  to  give  a  re- 
ligious education  to  boys  whose  piety  and  qualities  seemed  to  show 
a  decided  vocation  for  the  priesthood.  No  scholar  was  received 
except  on  the  recommendation  of  his  confessor.  In  1809  the 
Abb6  Dubois  founded,  near  Emmitsburg,  the  seminary  and  college 
of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  aftiliated  himself  to  the  Society  of  St. 
Sulpice,  in  order  to  carry  on  this  double  establishment.  But  in 
1819  the  Sulpitians  resolved  to  limit  their  sphere  of  action,  and 
Mount  St.  Mary's  ceased  to  be  under  their  superintendence.  They 
also  suppressed,  in  1852,  their  college  of  St.  Mary's,  replaced, 
however,  by  Loyola  College,  a  new  institution  of  the  Jesuits.  At 
the  present  moment,  St.  Sulpice  directs  only  two  establishments 
in  the  United  States — St.  Mary's  Seminary,  which  numbers 
twenty-three  theologians,  and  the  Preparatory  Seminary  of  vSt. 
Charles,  which  contains  forty-two  scholars.  This  latter  institution 
is  within  a  few  miles  of  Baltimore,  offering  greater  advantages 
than  Pigeon  Hills,  which  it  superseded  in  1849.  These  two 
houses,  as  well  as  the  seminary  of  Montreal,  maintain  a  close 
imion  with  the  Society  in  Paris,  and  visitors  are  sent  from  France 
at  short  intervals,* 

Archbishop  Marcchal  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  miraculous 
<;ures  effected  in  his  diocese  by  the  prayers  of  Prince  Alexander 


*  St.  Tlary's  Seminary  has  had  only  four  Superiors  since  its  foundation  : 
1791,  Fruicis  Nagot;  1810,  John  Tessier;  1833,  Deluol;  1849,  Francis 
Lhommo.  The  Superior  is  always  a  Vicar-gcneral.  St.  Mary's  College  has 
had  among  its  celebrated  Presidents — 1804,  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
New  Orleans  ;  1818,  Brute,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Vincennes ;  1829,  Eccleston, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Baltimore ;  1834,  Chanche,  Bishop  of  Natchez. 
Mount  St.  Mary's  retained  Mr.  Dubois  as  President  from  1809  to  1826,    On 


!!f 


^ 


1 .  ■• '  I ' 


!i 


]  i 


i'  i 


i  ( 


! 


I       i 


112 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Ilohenloho,  and  he  inig;lit  hope  tliat  God  had  regarded  will  .1 
favorable  eye  the  Church  iu  America,  to  whicli  such  favors  wero 
reserved.  On  the  10th  of  March,  1824,  Mrs.  Anne  Mattingly,  at 
the  point  of  death,  given  up  by  physicians,  was  suddenly  cured  on 
the  last  day  of  a  novena  which  she  had  undertaken  in  conformity 
with  the  directions  of  the  holy  prince.  The  fame  of  this  extraor- 
dinary cure  was  immense,  for  it  took  place  at  Washington,  the 
capital  of  the  United  States,  of  which  city  her  brother  was  mayor 
at  the  time.  Her  cure  was  perfect,  and  she  lived  thirty  years 
after  it,  dying  only  in  1855. 

The  miraculous  cure  of  a  Visitation  nun,  at  Georgetown,  took 
place  soon  after,  and  these  two  events,  supported  by  the  most  au- 
thentic and  most  respectable  testimony,  exercised  a  considerable 
influence  in  bringing  many  Protestants  to  study  the  Catholic 
dogmas.* 

Archbishop  Mar6chal  went  to  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of  1821, 
to  lay  the  state  of  his  diocese  before  the  Sovereign  Pontiff".  In 
1826  he  visited  Canada,  whither  the  interests  of  religion  led  him, 
for  he  shrank  from  no  fatigue  at  the  call  of  duty.  But  the  cruel 
pangs  of  a  dropsy  in  the  chest  soon  condemned  him  to  absolute 
repose.  lie  bore  the  pains  of  a  long  illness  with  Christian  cour- 
age, and  died  on  the  29th  of  January,  1828,  in  the  expectation  of 
a  blessed  immortality. 

his  appointment  to  the  See  of  New  York,  the  Rev.  Deburgo  Egnn,  an  aluin- 
nns  of  the  institution,  succeeded  him.  After  him,  Rev.  John  Purccll,  now 
Archbishop  of  Cincinnati,  became  President.  The  seminary  and  college 
are  now  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  John  McCaffrey.  The  seminary 
contains  fourteen  theologians ;  the  college,  one  hundred  and  seventy-:lve 
Bcliolars. 

*  The  testimony  as  to  Mrs.  Mattingly'a  cure  takes  up  fifty  pages  in  tho 
third  volume  of  Bishop  England's  works. 


% 
■I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


113 


CilATTER   IX. 


aliun- 
bll,  now 
1  college 
Iminnry 
]ity-:ive 

in  tho 


I 


DIOCESE    OF    BALTIMOKE — (1828-1820). 

Most  Rev.  Jamos  ■WhitfloUl,  fourth  ArchMsliop  of  Bnltlinoro— Tlie  Oblatcs  of  St.  Frnnces 
and  the  colored  Catholics — Tho  Associntion  for  tho  Propagntlon  of  tho  Faltli  and  tho 
Leopoldlne  Society— First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  a  retrospect  on  pre- 
vious synods  of  the  clergy. 

As  soon  as  Archbishop  Mardchal  felt  the  first  symptoms  of  tho 
disease  that  was  to  carry  him  off,  he  applied  to  the  Holy  See  for 
a  coadjutor  to  succeed  him  in  his  important  post.  The  name  of 
Dr.  James  Whitfield  was  the  first  on  tho  list  of  persons  which  he 
submitted  to  the  choice  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  by  a  brief  of  the 
8th  of  January,  1828,  Leo  XII.,  acceding  to  the  archbishop's  re- 
quest, appointed  Dr.  Whitfield  coadjutor,  with  the  title  of  Bishop 
of  Apollonia,  in  partibus.  The  brief  did  not  arrive  until  after 
Archbishop  Marechal  had  expired,  and  Dr.  Whitfield  was  conse- 
crated Archbishop  of  Baltimore  on  Whitsunday,  the  25th  of 
May,  1828.  The  venerable  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  Monseigneur 
Flaget,  was  the  consecrator,  and  he  was  so  impressed  with  tho 
importance  of  his  august  functions,  that  on  Ascension  day  he 
began  a  retreat  with  the  archbishop  elect,  in  order  to  purify  his 
heart,  and  raise  his  soul  to  God,  in  preparation  for  the  gi'eat  act 
he  was  about  to  perform.  "  This  Sunday  of  Pentecost  was  the 
most  grand,  the  moat  august,  the  most  honorable  day  that  ever 
shone  on  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown."* 

James  Whitfield  was  born  at  Liverpool,  England,  on  the  fid  of 
November,  17 70,  and  belonged  to  a  very  respectable  mercantile 
family,  who  gave  him  all  the  advantages  of  a  sound  education. 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Flagct,  by  M.  .1.  Spalding,  Bishop  of  Louisville,  p.  2G2. 


n  1  : 

fit;  -i 


114 


THE  CATHOLIC  CIIURCn 


At  tlio  nm  of  seventeen  ho  lost  his  fivtlier  and  became  the  solo 
pi'otoctor  of  his  mother. 

In  oi'der  to  (lissif)ato  her  melancholy  ho  took  her  to  Italy,  and 
after  spending  some  years  thero  in  commercial  aft'airs,  young 
Whitfield  went  to  France,  in  order  to  pass  over  to  Englatid.  It 
"Nvas  just  at  this  moment  that  Napoleon  decreed  that  every  Eng- 
lisliman  discovered  on  French  soil  should  bo  retained  a  prisoner. 
James  Whitfield  spent  most  of  the  period  of  hia  exile  at  Lyons, 
and  there  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the  Abbe  Marechal,  the 
future  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  then  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the 
seminary  of  St.  Irenseus,  at  Lyons.  The  young  man's  piety  soon 
disposed  him  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state.  lie  entered  the 
seminary  under  the  direction  of  his  learned  friend,  and  was  soon 
distinguished  for  his  ardor  as  a  student  and  for  his  solidity  of 
judgment.  He  was  ordained  at  Lyons  in  1809,  and  on  his 
mother's  death  returned  to  England,  where  he  was  for  some  time 
appointed  to  the  parish  of  Crosby.  When  the  Abbe  Marechal 
was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  Archbisliop  of  Baltimore,  he  wrote  to 
his  friend,  begging  him  to  come  and  share  the  cares  of  a  diocese 
whQse  wants  were  so  great.  Mr.  Whitfield  yielded  to  the  desire 
of  his  old  tutor,  and  he  landed  in  the  United  States  on  the  8th  of 
September,  181 7.  lie  was  at  first  stationed  at  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Baltimore,  and  then  became  one  of  the  Vicars-general  of  the  dio- 
cese. In  1825,  by  a  special  indult  of  the  Court  of  Rome,  the 
ardibishop  solemnly  conferred  on  Mr.  Whitfield  and  two  other 
eminent  clergymen  of  Baltimore  the  grade  of  Doctor  of  Divinity; 
and  the  ceremony,  full  of  interest  for  Catholics,  was  hailed  by 
them  with  joy  as  the  commencem'^nt  of  a  faculty  of  theology  in 
America.  In  the  same  year  Archbisliop  Marechal  approved  the 
i'<iligious  community  of  the  Sisters  Oblates  of  St.  Frances,  formed 
of  colored  women,  for  the  instruction  of  children  of  the  African 
rnce.  Dr.  Whitfield  took  a  deep  interest  in  this  foundation,  and 
seconded  the  effort  of  Mr.  Joubert,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  who, 


•J 


ih 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


115 


tho  solo 

taly,  and 
8,  young 
land.     It 
ory  Eng- 
prisoner. 
it  Lyons, 
ichal,  the 
ity  in  the 
liety  soon 
itcred  the 
was  soon 
ioUdity  of 
d  on    his 
lomo  time 
Mart'chal 
)  wrote  to 
a  diocese 
the  desire 
tho  8th  of 
8  Church, 
■  the  dio- 
lomo,  the 
,wo  other 
Divinity ; 
ailed  by 
eology  in 
oved  tho 
!s,  formed 
e  African 
ition,  and 
:)ice,  who, 


ilungt'd  in  the  doepoHt 


Hceing  so  many  little  negrosses  plunged  in  tlic  (loepoHt  ignorance, 
HHHOinbled  several  excellent  women  of  that  (ilans  to  take  care  of 
these  children.  After  long  trials,  Mr.  Jouburt  thought  that  ho 
might  ask  tho  arcliMxhop  to  permit  them  to  take  vows.  Ap- 
proved on  the  5th  of  June,  1825,  they  were  also  recognized  at 
Rome  by  tlu!  Holy  See  on  the  2d  of  October,  1831,  and  enjoyed 
hU  the  privileges  and  indulgences  accorded  to  the  Oblates  at 
Rome.  "The  Almighty  has  blessed  tho  eiforts  of  tho  worthy 
Mr.  Joubert,"  wrote  Kev.  Mr.  Odin,  in  1834  ;  "there  are  already 
twelve  of  these  sisters ;  their  school  is  very  numerous,  piety  and 
fervor  reign  among  them,  and  they  render  great  services  to  reli- 
gion."* The  community  now  contains  fourteen  professed  sisters 
and  three  novices;  they  keep  a  girls'  school,  with  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  scholars,  and  a  boys'  school,  with  fifty.f  This  is 
but  a  small  development,  and  tho  good  to  be  done  among  the 
blacks  would  need  a  very  large  community.  Hut  the  clergy  has 
never  been  able  to  cope  with  the  work  before  them,  and  the  va- 
rious Archbishops  of  Baltimore  have  all  deplored  their  inability 
to  mulertako  the  evangelization  of  the  blacks,  as  they  would  de- 
sire. "IIow  distressing  it  is,"  wrote  Archbishop  "Whitfield,  in 
1832,  "to  be  unable  to  send  missionaries  to  Virginia,  where  there 
are  five  liundred  thousand  negroes !  It  is  indubitable  that  had 
we  missionaries  and  funds  to  support  them,  prodigies  would  be 

*  Anniiles  de  la  I'ropanration  do  la  Foi,  vii.  167.  Letter  of  Mr.  Odin, 
Lazarist,  now  Bishop  of  Galveston, 

t  Tlie  Oblntes  of  Komo  wero  founded  by  St.  Frances  do  Buxo,  born  at 
Kome  in  ISSi.  Although  married,  hIio  assembled  some  pious  widows  and 
lioly  young  women  in  comnumity,  in  1433 ;  gave  them  the  rule  of  St.  Beno- 
diot,  with  special  constitutions,  and  solicited  ti\e  approval  of  Pop;)  Eugene 
IV.,  which  was  granted.  On  her  husband's  death  in  1436,  Frances  entered 
the  community  which  she  had  organized  ;  slic  died  there  in  1440,  and  was 
canonized  by  Pope  Paul  V.  in  1603.  The  Oblates  of  Koine  do  not  tako 
soitMnn  vows.  Tlieir  numbers  are  generally  tilled  up  from  the  most  distin- 
guished classes  of  society,  and  many  princesses  have  been  members  of  tho 
order,  while  their  sisters  in  America  are  taken  in  tho  humblest  condition, 
kiacli  is  the  equality  of  tiic  great  Christian  family  before  God. 


f.ll 

4 


!  J 


I 

t 


1 


TIIH   CATHOLIC  CIIL'KCII 

(.1  in  this  viwt  iiinl  imlilli'<l  (idil.     In  Mnryljiiid  l>l.u;ks  aro 

tilted  ov(M-y  (lay,  uii*l  niuny  of  tlu'iii  mo  <^'oimI  (!;itholics  iiiid 

cut  (,'liristians.     At  Haltiiiioro  inany  aro  lVo<|Uent  comimiiii- 

and  tliroo  Inindrid  or  foui'  hundred  rccoivo  the  IMessed 

unent  tho  fii'Ht  Sumhiy  of  every  montli.     It  Ih  the  samo 

throughout  Maryland,  where  there  are  a  ^reat  many  Catholics 

ninoiiij  the  nej^roes."*     Some  years  after,  ArchhiHhoj)  Kt-cleston, 

successor  of  Arehhishoi)  Wliitlield,  wrote,  in  1838:  "Tho  slavet* 

j)resont  a  vast  and  rieli  harvest  to  the  apostolie  labortir.     I  do  not 

)elievo  that  there  is  in  this  country,  without  excepting  tho  Indians, 

a  class  of  men  among  whom  it  is  possible  to  do  more  good.     ]iut 

far  from  being  able  to  do  what  I  would  desire  for  the  salvation  of 

the  unhappy  negroes,  I  see  myself  unable  to  meet  tho  wants  of 

the  thousands  of  whites,  who,  equally  deprived  of  tho  succors  of 

religion,  feel  most  keenly  their  spiritual  abandonmont."f 

This  sad  state  of  things  has  not  coas.jd  to  exist,  for  tho  clergy 
are  still  far  too  few  to  devote  themselves  especially  to  the  con- 
version of  the  blacks.  There  are  many  negro  Catholics  in  Louisi- 
ana, Missouri,  Maryland,  and  Now  York,  but  in  general  it  is  tho 
fanaticism  of  Wesley  that  is  preached  with  success  to  tho  colored 
people,  and  a  part  of  the  slaves  follow  tlie  superstitious  practices 
of  that  atct,  while  a  large  number  preserve  the  gross  worship  of 
Fctichisni.  Wo  cannot  but  express  our  wish  that  the  work  of 
the  worthy  Mr.  Juubert  may  obtain  a  wide  extension,  aiX'  ihat 
the  pious  Oblates,  of  wliom  he  is  tho  founder,  may  be  propujj.'.'^' 
in  all  directions,  in  order  to  bring  up  the  colored  childreu  li;  the 
truths  of  Christianity.]; 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Archbishop  Whitfield's  administration 
was  tho  visitai  mi  of  his  diocese,  wliich,  in  1828,  comprised  fifty- 


*  Annnles  d.i  In  7r\  [nipition  do  lo  Fo',  v.  722. 
+  Annalcs  d>i  ia  I'ropiif'ation  do  lu  T^oi,  x.  498. 

X  James  Hector  .loubcrt  was  born  at  St.  -loan  d'Angcly,  Scptcmher  6tli, 
1777.    In  1801  ho  went  to  St.  Domingo,  and  thence  to  Baltimore,  where  lio 


I- 
!  \] 


IN  THE   UNII'EP  STATES. 


117 


jlicH  jukI 
)inmuiii- 

\w  saino 
Uutholics 

JAlC-lt'Htoll, 

ho  slaves 
1  do  not 
0  IikVuuis, 
xxl.  But 
ilvutiou  of 
)  wants  of 
succors  of 

t 

the  clergy 

the  con- 
in  Louisi- 
jil  it  is  tho 
[ho  colored 
Is  practices 
worship  of 
|io  work  of 
ani''   ill  at 
>roT»:c^ii'.'' ' 
Ireii  HI  ^lie 

linistration 
t)rised  fifty- 


Itctnbcr  6th, 
\c,  where  ho 


Jf 


two  prie-sts  and  from  sixty  tlioiisaiid  tt)  oi;.  hly  tliousaiid  Catholics. 
This  visilali«»M  sliowed  him  the  (^ryiiij;;  wants  of  lh<'  va«t  district 
committee!  to  his  care,  and  tlui  ft-chlo  nisources  which  lu  cc^dd 
contr  '  t'c  tlie  advancement  of  reh^itut  His  private  fortune  wan 
co'i^i'I  nl'i',  and  lie  now  devoted  his  whole  income  to  huilditkj^ 
olnuclies  and  estahhsiiini^  us<'ful  institutions.  Like  his  veneral)lo 
prudecessor,  lie  invariahly  appeal(Hl  for  aid  to  the  Association  for 
tlie  l*ropa«j;ation  of  the  Faith,  and  by  tho  returns  of  that  body 
from  1825  to  1834,  tho  Archbisliop  of  liaitimore  received  thirt  v- 
two  tliousand  francs.  There  was,  moreover,  a  certain  suifi 
allotted  for  Mt.  St.  Mary's,  and  Louis  XV III.  and  Charles  X. 
also  sent,  on  several  Occasions,  oflerings  to  their  (jirand  Almoner 
for  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Still  tho  Association  for  the 
l*ropagation  of  tho  Faith  showed  itself,  at  first,  especially  liberal 
to  the  dioceses  of  New  Orleans  and  Bardstown.  There  all  was 
to  bo  created,  while  Maryland  oftered  some  resources  to  her 
clergy. 

It  was  to  aid  tho  missions  of  the  United  States  that  tho  admi- 
rable Association  for  tho  Propagation  of  tho  Faith  was  established, 
and  for  this  reason  it  becomes  us  to  chronicle  its  rise. 

In  1815,  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans,  returning  from 
Rome  after  his  consecration,  stopped  a  short  time  at  Lyons,  and 
preoccupied  in  miu' i  with  tho  wants  of  his  diocese,  recommended 
it  warmly  to  the  <  liarity  of  tho  people  of  Lyons.  The  prelate 
spoke  especially  on  the  subject  to  a  pious  widow,  whom  ho  had 
formerly  known  in  America,  and  imparted  to  her  his  idea  of 
founding  a  socioty  of  alms-givers  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  Louisi- 
ana.    For  scneral  ensuing  years  the  lady  merely  collected  such 


arrived  in  Septc'iber,  1804.  lie  soon  after  entered  St.  Mary's  Seminary, 
and  was  tho  tliiruonth  jiricst  orduiucd  in  that  Siilpitlan  establishment.  Ho 
spent  tlio  remainder  of  bis  life  in  tho  st'ininary,  fulfilling  with  zeal  the  func- 
tions to  whieh  he  was  called,  either  au  professor  or  as  vice-president  of  tho 
college, 


1^     ^ 


I  -"I '    ' ; 


;? 


!    ! 


■     I  I 


:i 


118 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


little  aid  as  she  could,  and  sent  it  to  Bishop  Diibouig;  but  is 
1822,  a  Vicar-general  of  New  Orleans  arrived  at  Lyons  and  gave 
new  life  to  the  charity  of  the  benefactors  of  Louisiana.  They  had 
hitherto  failed  to  aid  sufficiently  one  single  mission,  yet  for  all 
that  they  resolved  to  aid  all  the  missions  in  the  world,  and  the 
principle  of  Catholicity  infused  into  the  new  work  drew  down 
upon  it  the  blessings  of  Heaven.  On  the  3d  of  May,  1822,  tho 
feast  of  the  Finding  of  the  Holy  Cross,  twelve  persons  met  to- 
gether at  Lyons.  The  proceedings  began  by  invoking  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  a  priest  then  made  a  short  recital  of  the  sufterings  of  re- 
ligion in  America,  and  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  vast  asso- 
ciation to  furnish  pecuniary  resources  for  the  missions  of  the  whole 
world. 

The  assembly  unanimously  adopted  this  opinion,  naming  a 
president  and  committee  to  organize  the  association.  The  society 
soon  absorbed  another  modest  association,  established  in  1820, 
among  the  female  silk  operatives,  to  help  the  Christians  in  China. 
The  combined  efforts  had  the  results  which  the  partial  attem])t3 
had  never  dreamed  of  attaining.  The  receipt  of  the  first  May 
was  five  hundred  and  twenty  francs ;  that  of  the  first  year  rose  to 
fifteen  thousand  two  hundred,  and  seventy-two  francs — over  three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  resources  of  which  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  now  disposes,  enable  it  to  distribute  annually  from 
three  milhon  to  four  million  of  francs — nearly  a  million  doUars — 
among  the  missions  of  the  five  great  divisions  of  the  world.*  Of 
this  sum  the  amount  allotted  to  the  bishops  of  the  United  States 
varies  from  one  hundred  thousand  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
Band  dollars.     From  1822  to  1853,  the  total  of  the  contributions 


ji. 


*  Wc  have  drawn  these  statistics  from  the  annual  accounts  of  the  Society, 
made  successively  from  1822  to  1853.  A  writer  in  a  late  number  of  the  Me- 
tropolitan has  recently  done  the  same,  and  called  the  attention  of  the  Catho- 
lics of  America  to  this  debt  of  gratitude. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


119 


1\  but  is 
and  gave 
Thoy  had 
et  for  all 
,  and  the 
[■ew  down 
1822,  the 
3  met  to- 
the  Holy 
i<fs>  of  re- 
vast  asso- 
the  whole 

naming  a 

he  society 
in   1820, 

I  in  China. 

attem]>t3 

first  May 

ar  rose  to 

over  three 

igation  of 
ally  from 
dollars — 
rid*  Of 
ted  States 
fifty  thou- 
ributions 


he  Society, 
of  the  Mo- 
the  Catho- 


sent  to  missionaries  has  amounted  to  fifty-one  million  and  ninety- 
three  thousand  francs,  about  one  quarter  of  which  hus  been  de- 
voted to  the  missions  in  the  United  States.  Who  can  tell  the 
number  of  churches  and  chapels  built  by  this  peasants'  and  oper- 
atives' penny  a  week — the  number  of  missionaries  whose  expen- 
sive voyages  it  has  paid — the  number  of  conversions  which  these 
missionaries  have  effected — or,  what  is  better,  the  number  of 
Catholics  saved  from  indifference  and  ultimate  apostasy — the 
numbers  on  numbers  enabled  by  their  ministry  to  live  a  Christian 
life  and  escape  eternal  damnation  ?  The  history  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States  is,  to  some  extent,  the  history  of  the  results 
obtained  by  this  association,  and  our  object  in  writing  is  to  stimu- 
late the  zeal  of  the  associates  and  increase  their  number.  As  our 
readers  follow  our  sketches  they  will  see  that  the  wants  are  daily 
greater,  and  that  the  ties  between  the  young  Church  of  America 
and  the  time-honored  Church  of  France  cry  aloud  for  a  perpetua- 
tion, not  in  a  view  of  earthly  fame,  but  for  the  greater  glory  of 
God.  The  first  martyrs  of  Maine,  New  York,  and  lUinois  came 
from  the  France  which  holds  the  ashes  of  Mary  Magdalene,  of 
Lazarus,  and  of  Pothinus.  Most,  too,  of  the  first  bishops  were 
natives  of  France  ;  and  after  aiding  the  United  States  to  achieve 
political  independence,  she  has  now  the  higher  glory  of  aiding 
her  for  the  last  thirty  years  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
^^  Hex  regnantium  et  Dominus  dominantiumy 

The  example  given  by  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  has  been  moreover  imitated  in  Germany.  The  Leo- 
poldine  Association,  formed  in  Austria,  has  for  its  sole  and  special 
object  the  support  of  the  American  missions.  It  was  established 
at  Vienna  on  the  15th  of  April,  1829,  at  the  time  of  a  visit  made 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Reze,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Detroit,  to  solicit  aid 
for  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  was  Vicar-general.  Its 
name  is  a  memorial  of  the  Archduchess  Leopoldiue,  herself  by 
marriage  an  American  princess,  and  Empress  of  Brazil.     The 


I 


'^fr**' 


120 


THE  CATHOLIC  cnuRCii 


Arclidukc  Riulolpli,  Curdlnal  Arclibisliop  of  Olmutz,  and  brother 
of  Francis  II.,  at  onco  became  the  protector  of  the  association, 
and  in  inaugurating  it  pronounced  these  memorable  words :  "  It 
behooves  the  Church  of  France,  jealous  of  its  ancient  glories,  to 
march  in  the  fervor  of  its  faith  ever  at  the  head  and  never  behind 
the  other  churches  of  the  world."  And  not  for  Fi-ance  alone  do 
we  claim  this  glory.  In  the  extension  of  Christianity,  in  the 
propagation  of  truth,  the  Celtic  race  has  ever  led  the  way. 

The  Leopoldine  Association  spread  over  all  the  Austrian  States. 
By  1832  it  had  sent  to  the  United  States  over  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  had  been  distributed  among  the  dioceses  of 
Charleston,  Philadelphia,  Bardstown,  and  St.  Louis.  In  1834  the 
amount  sent  to  America  was  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  Of  the 
subsequent  labors  of  this  charitable  society  we  have  no  statistics, 
but  we  know  that  the  dioceses  in  which  the  German  inmiigra- 
tion  has  centered  receive  abundant  aid  from  this  source.  The 
interest  which  it  has  excited  has  not  been  otherwise  fruitless. 
Future  historians  may  be  at  a  loss  to  explain  how  a  dictionary  of 
the  Chippeway  language,  and  works  in  that  dialect,  came  to  bo 
printed  at  Laybach,  in  lUyria ;  but  as  soon  as  we  learn  that  when 
the  government  of  the  United  States  refused  to  aid  the  Catholic 
missionary  to  piint  these  works,  the  generosity  of  Austria  sup- 
plied the  necessary  funds,  we  can  at  once  explain  the  strange 
fact.* 

The  Catholic  bishops  in  the  United  States  had  long  desired  to 
assemble  in  Council,  in  order  to  adopt  regulations  as  to  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  Obsta- 
cles, however,  of  various  kinds  pre\'ented  their  meeting.  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  undertook  to  remove  all  these  difficulties,  and 
with  the  approbation  of  the  Holy  See,  had  the  satisfaction  of  con- 
voking his  colleagues  in  a  Provincial  Council,  the  opening  of 


*  Aiinales  de  hi  Propiigtition  de  la  Foi,  vi.  179 ;  viii.  247.     llenrion,  His- 
toire  Geiierale  dcs  Missions,  ii.  676.     Bishop  Baraga,  Chippewa  Dictionary. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


121 


and  brother 
association, 
)  words :  "  It 
[it  glories,  to 
never  behind 
,nce  alone  do 
anity,  in  tlio 
s  way. 

istrian  States, 
nty-five  tliou- 
e  dioceses  of 
In  1834  the 
ilars.     Of  the 
s  no  statistics, 
nan  immigra- 
source.    The 
Iwise  fruitless, 
dictionary  of 
;,  came  to  bo 
jn  that  when 
the  Catholic 
Austria  sup- 
the  strange 

ag  desired  to 
to  ecclesias- 

3nts.     Obsta- 

^ting.    Arch- 
iculties,  and 

Action  of  con- 
opening  of 


llenrion,  His- 
7i\  Dictionaxy. 


which  was  fixed  for  the  4th  of  October,  1829.  Till  then  there 
had  never  been  any  regular  convenHon  of  the  American  clergy, 
except  the  Diocesan  Synod  of  1791  and  the  meeting  of  the  bish- 
ops in  1810;  and  before  speaking  of  the  acts  of  the  Council  of 
1829,  we  will  state  briefly  what  took  place  in  the  two  previous 
assemblies.  The  Synod  of  1791  and  its  decisions  had  remained 
in  great  veneration  among  the  clt-rgy,  as  we  may  judge  by  the 
following  reflections  of  Mr.  Brute,  written  by  him  on  the  6th  of 
November,  1831,  while  preparing  the  questions  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Second  Council  of  Baltimore : 

"We  must  read  over  the  Synod  of  1791  for  the  form,  and  its 
authority  will  be  a  good  direc'.'on.  In  every  line  you  see  the 
bishop.  In  all  you  see  how  much  he  has  consulted,  and  that  the 
spirit  of  faith,  charity,  and  zeal  has  in  that  first  assembly  served 
as  a  happy  model  for  its  successors.  Could  it  be  otherwise  in  an 
assembly  of  such  priests  under  Archbishop  Carroll !  Messrs.  Pel- 
lentz,  founder  of  Conewago  and  Lancaster ;  Molyneux  and  Flem- 
ing, Vicars  of  the  North  and  South,  as  Pellentz  was  of  the  whole 
diocese ;  Neale,  Plunkett,  Gressel,  Nagot,  Gamier,  etc. ;  the  cele- 
brated convert,  Mr.  Thayer,  etc.  Such  worthy  priests  immortalize 
this  Synod  with  a  blessing  of  union,  grace,  and  zeal,  which  will 
be  the  same  forty  years  after  ad  multos  iterum  annos,  or  rather 
for  much  more  frequent  meetings  of  Diocesan  Synods,  for  which 
this  will  ever  serve  as  a  model."* 

The  First  Council  of  Baltimore  in  1829  decided  that  the 
statutes  of  the  Synod  of  1791  should  be  printed  with  the  acts  of 
the  Council,  and  the  bishops  thus  gave  new  vigor  to  the  regula- 
tions of  that  Synod.  In  the  first  session,  held  on  the  7th  of  No- 
vember, 1791,  the  bishop  delivered  a  discourse  suited  to  the 
occasion,  after  which  the  members  made  a  profession  of  faith. 
At  the  second  session,  held  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  statutes 

*  Manuscript  of  Bishop  Brute  of  Vinoennos. 
6 


■I  i: 


)  : 


P  •! 


i     :       ' 


122 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


•were  passed  as  to  the  conditional  baptism  of  converts,  on  baptis- 
mal registers,  on  not  confirming  children  before  the  age  of  reason. 
The  third  session,  which  took  place  on  the  8tli,  took  up  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist ;  it  treated  of  the  first  communion  of  chil- 
dren, of  decency  in  the  ceremonial,  of  the  ecclesiastical  dress,  of 
collections  and  trustees.  In  the  fourth  session,  on  the  9th  of  No- 
vember, they  considered  the  sacrament  of  Penance ;  reminded  all 
of  the  necessity  of  an  approbation  for  priests,  and  forbid  them  to 
go  to  stay  in  other  places  than  those  where  they  were  stationed. 
This  was  necessary,  as  some  priests,  Germans  especially,  believed 
they  could  dispense  with  episcopal  institution  from  the  new 
bishop,  and  one  remarkable  case  we  shall  have  occasion  to  men- 
tion. The  sacraments  of  Extreme  Unction  and  Matnmony  were 
also  treated  of,  and  mixed  marriages  subjected  to  proper  guaran- 
tees. 

On  the  last  session,  on  the  10th  of  November,  regulations  were 
adopted  as  to  holidays,  manual  labor  being  tolerated  in  certain 
cases  on  holidays  not  falling  on  a  Sunday ;  and  finally,  decrees 
were  made  upon  the  oflRces,  the  life  of  the  clergy,  their  mainte- 
nance and  burial.* 

*  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita.    Baltimore,  1851,  page  11.    M6 
moires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  ecclesiastique  pendant  Ic  XVIH.  Si6cle :  Paris, 
1815,  iii.  190. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  priests  who  attended  the  synod  of  1791  j 
they  deserve  to  be  preserved,  as  having,  with  Archbishop  Carroll,  laid  th« 
foimdation  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States : 

James  Pellentz,  V.  G.  for  the  whole  diocese ;  James  Frambach ;  Eobert 
Molyneux,  S.  J.,  Vicar-general  for  the  South  (English) ;  Francis  Anthony 
Fleming,  S.  J.,  V.  G.  of  the  Northern  district;  Francis  Charles  Nagot, 
President  of  the  Sulpitian  Seminary  (French) ;  John  Ashton,  S.  J. ;  Henry 
Pile  ;  Leonard  Neale,  S.  J. ;  Charles  Sewall,  S.  J. ;  Sylvester  Boarman,  S.  J. , 
■William  Filing;  James  Vanhutffel;  Robert  Plunkett;  Stanislaus  Cerfou- 
mont ;  Francis  Beeston ;  Lawrence  Gressel ;  Joseph  Eden ;  Louis  Caesar 
Delavan,  ex-Canon  of  Tours ;  John  Tessier,  Sulpitian  (French) ;  Anthony 
Gamier,  Sulpitian  (Frenoh). 

Tliese  twenty  priests  were  the  only  ones  present  at  the  first  meetings. 
The  following  were  present  also  on  the  10th  of  November ; 

John  Bolton,  S.  J.,  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  ;  John  Thayer,  pastor  of  Boston. 


J 

'I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


123 


on  baptw- 

of  reason. 
►  the  sacra- 
on  of  cbil- 
;al  dress,  of 

9th  of  No- 
smmded  all 
)id  them  to 
e  stationed, 
lly,  beUeved 
m  the  new 
sion  to  men- 
rimony  were 
oper  guaran- 

;ulations  were 
ed  in  certain 
aally,  decrees 
their  mainte- 


,  page  11.    M»i 
I.  Si6cle :  Paris*, 

)  synod  of  1791  i 
DarroU,  laid  th« 

[mbach;  Robert 
(rancis  Anthony 
1  Charles  Nagot, 
ln,S.  J.;  Henry 
1  Boar  man,  S.  J. , 

tmislaus  Cerfou- 
Louis  Caesar 

^nch) ;  Anthony 

first  meetings. 
Daator  of  Boston. 


I 


When  the  bishops  elect  of  Boston,  Diiladelphia,  and  Bards- 
town  met  at  Baltimore  in  1810  to  receive  episcopal  consecration, 
they  had  some  conferences  with  Archbishop  Carroll,  to  regulate 
together  important  points  of  discipline,  and  the  following  is  a 
summary  of  the  articles  then  adopted : 

I.  Poor  as  they  may  be  in  subjects  for  the  ecclesiastical  state, 
the  bishops  declare  that  they  will  cheerfully  permit  their  dioce- 
sans to  enter  any  regular  or  secular  order  for  which  they  feel  a 
vocation. 

II.  Tlie  bishops  forbid  the  use  in  prayer-books  of  any  version 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  except  that  of  the  Douay  Bible. 

III.  They  permit  the  reciting  in  the  vernacular  of  the  prayers 
which  precede  or  follow  the  essential  form  of  the  administration 
of  the  sacraments,  except  the  Mass,  which  must  always  be  cele- 
brated entirely  in  Latin;  but  they  forbid  the  use  of  any  translation 
of  the  prayers  not  approved  by  all  the  bishops  in  the  province. 

IV.  The  bishops  do  not  permit  perpetual  vows  of  chastity  to 
bo  pronounced  out  of  regular  religious  associations. 

V.  They  exhort  all  pastors  of  souls  to  combat  constantly,  in 
public  and  in  private,  amusements  dangerous  to  morals,  as  balls 
and  stage  plays,  and  forbid  the  reading  of  books  which  may 
weaken  faith  or  corrupt  virtue,  especially  novels. 

VI.  They  forbid  priests  to  admit  Free  Masons  to  the  sacra- 
ments, unless  they  promise  to  stop  attending  the  lodges,  and 
openly  proclaim  their  renunciation  of  the  society.* 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  bishops  to  meet  in  a  Provin- 
cial Council,  as  soon  as  they  should  become  well  aware  of  the 
condition  and  wants  of  their  several  dioceses,  as  Ave  see  by  the  fol- 
lowing preamble  to  their  articles  of  the  loth  of  November,  1810: 

"  It  appears  to  the  archbishops  and  bishops  now  assembled, 
that  the  holding  of  a  Provincial  Council  will  be  more  advan- 


*  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltiniori  habita,  p.  25.     Life  of  Bishop  Cheverns, 
page  85. 


ii  ji 


!'•  'M 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

tagooiis  at  a  future  period,  when  the  situation  and  wants  of  the 
ditibrent  dioceses  will  be  nioi'e  exactly  known.  This  Provincial 
Council  will  be  held,  at  farthest,  witliin  two  years  from  the  1st  of 
November,  1810;  and  in  the  mean  time  the  archbishop  and 
bisliops  will  now  consider  together  such  matters  as  appear  to 
them  most  urgent ;  and  they  reconuuend  a  uniform  practice  in 
regard  to  their  decisions,  until  the  holding  of  the  said  Provincial 
Council."* 

These  projects  could  not  be  realized ;  and,  as  we  have  said,  it 
was  only  in  1829  that  Archbishop  Whitfield  convoked  the  bish- 
ops of  the  United  States  in  a  Provincial  Council  at  Baltimore. 
The  prelates  who  met  at  the  call  of  their  Metropolitan  were : 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  Bishop  of  Bardstown. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  Bishop  of  Charleston  and  Vicar-general 
of  Florida  East. 

Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  vSt.  Louis  and  Administrator 
of  New  Orleans.    ^ 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Four  prelates  were  unable  to  come,  viz. :  Rt.  Rev.  John  Dubois, 
Bishop  of  New  York,  who  had  embarked  for  Europe  a  month 
before  ;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Coadjutor  of  Bardstown, 
the  proxy  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  prevented  from  attending 
by  sickness.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Mobile, 
was  also  in  Franc^ ;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  being  now 
merely  titular  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  was  represented  by  the 
Rev.  William  Mathews,  the  Administrator  of  that  diocese.f 

The  opening  of  the  Council  took  place  on  Sunday,  the  4th  of 
October,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore.     Archbishop  Whitfield 


:i    '1 


*  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget  by  Biahop  Spalding,  p.  66. 

+  Joseph  Rosati,  born  at  Sora  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  January  80th, 
1789,  entered  the  Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission  or  Lazarists  at 
an  early  age,  and  n  1815  joined  Bishop  Diibourg  at  Rome,  to  follow  him  to 


it 

'3 


IN    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


125 


[its  of  the 
Provincial 

the  1st  of 
.ishop  and 

appear  to 
practice  in 

Provincial 

lave  said,  it 
ed  the  bish- 
t  Baltimore. 
Q  were ; 

own. 
^car-general 


administrator 


John  Dubois, 
ope  a  month 
)f  Bardstown, 
om  attending 
of  Mobile, 
I,  being  now 

ented  by  the 

iocese.f 

ay,  the  4th  of 

hop  "Whitfield 


•P 


'4 


is,  January  SOth, 
m  or  LazaristB  at 
to  follow  him  to 


cv  i  1  :m'.l' 1  .1  rv'i.iiiu  M;iss,  and  liaving  fixed  that  day  for  the  re- 
*.\i);iu;i  of  lii.s  p:. Ilium,  it  was  imposed  upon  him  by  Bishop  Fla- 
get,  the  senior  prelate.  Every  day  a  morning  session  was  held, 
at  wliieli  the  bishops  alone  were  present,  with  the  Administrator 
of  Philadelphia;  and  an  afternoon  congregation,  which  the 
members  of  the  second  order  also  attended.*  The  closing  of  the 
Council  took  place  on  Sunday,  the  18th  of  October,  and  on  the 
24th  the  prelates  signed  a  letter  by  which  they  submitted  their 
decrees  to  Pope  Pius  VIII.  The  decrees,  approved  by  the  Con- 
gregation "de  propaganda  fide"  on  the  28th  of  June,  1830,  were 
presented  to  the  Holy  Father,  who  confirmed  them  on  the  26th 
of  September.  They  were  transmitted  by  the  Congregation  to 
Ameiica  on  the  16th  of  October,  with  some  remarks  "pcrmodiim 
instructionis  insinuanda^^  and  these  remarks  having  been  com- 
municatee to  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  the  decrees  wei'e  printed 
on  the  30th  of  June,  1831.  They  are  thirty-eight  in  number, 
and  we  subjoin  a  summary  of  the  most  important : 

I.  The  bishops  have  the  right  of  sending  to  any  part  of  their 

America.  In  1824,  Bishop  of  Tenngra  and  Coadjutor  of  New  Orleans.  In 
1824,  first  Bishop  of  St.  Louiri.    Died  at  Rome,  September  15,  1843. 

Ben£dict  Joseph  Fenwick,  born  at  Leonardtown,  Maryland,  Sept.  3,  1782. 
Bishop  of  Boston  in  1825;  died  Aug.  11,  1846. 

John  Dubois,  born  at  Paris,  August  24,  1764.  Bishop  of  New  York  in 
1826  ;  died  at  New  York  in  1842.' 

John  Baptist  David,  born  near  Nantes  in  1760.  Bishop  of  Mauricastro 
and  Coadjutor  of  Bardstown  in  1819  ;  died  June  12,  1841. 

Michael  Portier,  born  at  Montbuson,  Sept.  7,  1795,  came  to  America  in 
1817.  Bishop  of  Oleno  and  Vicar-apostolic  of  Alabama  and  Florida  in  1826. 
Bishop  of  Mobile  since  1829. 

Henry  Conwell,  born  in  Ireland.  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  in  1820  ;  died  at 
Philadelphia,  April  21,  1842. 

Of  the  other  prelates  present  at  the  Council,  we  have  already  given  short 
biographical  notices. 

*  The  ecclesiastics  present  were  : 

Kev.  John  Tessier,  Sulpitian,  V.  G.  of  Baltimore;  died  in  1840. 
Kev.  John  Power,  V.  G.  of  New  York ;  died  in  1849. 
•    Father  Dziero^ynski,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits;  died  in  1850. 
Kev.  Mr.  Carrierc,  Visitor  of  St.  Sulpicc. 


i 


m 


:  c 
1 


126 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


diocese,  or  recalling  any  priest  ordained  or  incorporated  within  it. 
This  does  not  extend  to  the  See  of  New  Orleans,  which  is  alone 
regarded  as  having  the  rank  and  privileges  of  benefices  in  the 
United  States. 

II.  Priests  ordained  in  a  diocese  or  incorporated  into  it  are  not 
to  leave  without  license  of  the  bishop. 

III.  Bishops  are  exhorted  not  to  grant  faculties  to  strange 
priests,  unless  they  bring  testimonials  from  their  own  bishops. 
This  provision,  however,  does  not  apply  to  apostolical  missionaries. 

V.  As  lay  trustees  have  often  abused  the  powers  conferred  upon 
them  by  the  civil  law,  the  Council  expresses  the  desire  that  bish- 
ops should  not  consent  to  the  erection  or  consecration  of  a  church, 
unless  a  deed  of  the  property  be  duly  executed  to  them. 

VI.  Some  laymen,  and  especially  trustees,  having  assumed  a 
right  of  patronage,  and  even  of  institution,  in  some  churches,  the 
Council  declares  these  pretensions  unfounded,  and  forbids  their 
exercise  on  any  grounds  whatever. 

IX.  The  Council  exhorts  the  bishops  to  dissuade  their  flocks 
from  reading  Protestant  translations  of  the  Bible,  and  recommend 
the  use  of  the  Douay  version. 

XL  It  is  forbidden  to  admit  as  sponsors,  heretics,  scandalous 
sinners,  infamous  men ;  lastly,  those  who  ar^  ignorant  of  the  ru- 
diments of  faith. 

XVI.  A  question  having  grown  up  from  the  difficulty  of  the 
times,  of  conferring  baptism  in  private  houses,  the  Council  does 
not  wish  to  suppress  it  absolutely,  but  nevertheless  exhorts  priests 
to  administer  the  sacrament  in  the  church  as  much  as  possible. 

XXVI.  The  pastors  of  souls  are  warned  that  it  behooves  them 
to  prepare  the  faithful  well  for  the  sacrament  of  matrimony ;  and 
that  they  should  not  consider  themselves  exempt  from  sin,  if  they 
have  the  temerity  to  administer  the  sacrament  to  persons  mani- 
festly unworthy. 

XXXIV.  As  many  young  Catholics,  especially  those  born  of 


I 


1 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


127 


within  it. 
I  is  alone 
es  in  the 

it  are  not 

,0  strange 
Q  bishops, 
issionaries. 
erred  upon 
that  bish- 
f  a  church, 

n. 

assumed  a 
lurches,  the 
jrbids  their 

their  flocks 
recommend 

scandalous 
t  of  the  ru- 

culty  of  the 
Council  does 
horts  priests 
[S  possible, 
hooves  them 
•imony;  and 
n  sin,  if  they 
ersons  mani- 

hose  born  of 


I 
I 

I 


poor  parents,  are  exposed  to  the  djingor  of  losing  faith  and  mo- 
rality, from  the  want  of  teachers  to  whom  tlieir  education  may 
1)0  saft'ly  confided,  the  Council  expresses  the  wish  that  schools 
should  be  established,  where  youth  may  imbibe  principles  of  faith 
and  morality  along  with  human  knowledge. 

XXXVI.  According  to  the  wise  counsel  of  I'ope  Leo  XII., 
addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  a  society  shall  be 
established  for  the  diffusion  of  good  books. 

The  Holy  See  also  granted  to  priests  in  the  ynited  States 
faculty  to  administer  baptism  with  water  not  blessed,  on  Holy 
Saturday  or  Whitsun-eve,  and  to  administer  it  to  adults  with  the 
same  form  as  to  children.  Priests  were  authorized  to  use,  in 
blessing  water,  the  short  form  employed  by  Peruvian  missionaries, 
with  the  approbation  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  as  given  in  the  Ritual  of 
Lima,  Rome  finally  permits  the  Paschal  season  in  the  United 
States  to  extend  from  the  first  Sunday  of  Lent  to  Trinity  Sunday 
inclusively.* 

To  meet  the  views  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  bishops  formed  an 
association  to  publish  elementary  books  suited  to  Catholic  schools, 
and  free  from  all  that  can  give  the  young  false  ideas  as  to  reli- 
gion. This  Metropolitan  press  continued  its  issues  for  several 
years,  till  the  spirit  of  enterprise  among  Catholic  booksellers  led 
them  to  publish  devotional  and  other  works  so  cheap  that  the 
object  of  the  bishops  was  attained.  The  prelates  also  favored  the 
establishment  of  Catholic  journals,  and  the  Catholics  in  the 
United  States  soon  counted  five  weekly  organs — the  "  Metropoli- 
tan" at  Baltimore,  the  "Jesuit"  at  Boston,  the  "Cathohc"  at 
Hartford,  the  "  Miscellany"  at  Charleston,  and  the  »  Truth  Teller." 

Among  the  subjects  on  which  the  meeting  of  the  bishops  threw 
great  light,  was  the  Catholic  population  of  the  vast  territory  of 
the  republic.     By  comparing  their  calculations,  and  rectifying 

*  Cone.  Prov.  Bait.,  p.  29.  Annates  de  la  Propagation  dc  la  Foi,  iv.  226; 
V.  711. 


m 

: 


]    !  ' 


!,i 


r 


128 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCII 


one  by  nnolhcr,  the  Fathers  of  tho  Council  conclucleJ  that  the 
number  of  CnthoHcs  in  tho  United  States,  in  1829,  was  over  fivo 
hundred  thousand,  and  (hiily  on  the  incsreaso,  by  immigration  or 
conversion.  These  developments  ati'orded  the  Episcopate  un- 
speakable consolation  in  their  labors,  as  wo  may  judge  by  this 
letter  of  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  tho  Council  of  the  Association 
for  tho  Propagation  of  tho  Faith,  dated  February  10th,  1802  : 

"  The  wonders,  if  I  dare  so  oxpreSvS  njyself,  that  have  been 
operated,  and»  are  daily  operated  in  my  diocese,  are  a  source  of 
consolation  to  me,  amid  tho  difficulties  against  which  I  have 
still  often  to  struggle.  Thanks  to  a  special  providence  over  that 
beloved  jxtrtion  of  tho  people  confided  to  my  care,  I  can  say  with 
the  apostle,  *  I  am  filled  with  consolation ;  I  superabound  with^'o// 
in  all  our  trihdation.^  When  I  meditate  before  God  on  his  goot'  - 
ness,  his  mercy,  the  graces  which  He  bestows  on  my  diocese,  my 
heart  expands,  my  bowels  are  moved,  and  I  cannot  but  recall  that 
passage  of  the  Psalms :  '  He  hath  not  done  thus  to  every  nation.' 
A  truly  Catholic  spirit  distinguishes  Maryland  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  from  all  other  States  in  the  Union ;  and  I  venture  to 
say,  without  any  fear  of  wounding  the  truth,  the  city  of  Baltimore 
is  justly  renowned  for  the  true  and  solid  piety  of  its  people.  Con- 
versions of  Protestants  in  health  are  also  numerous,  and  not  a 
week,  in  some  seasons  not  a  day  passes  without  our  priests  being 
called  to  the  bedside  of  some  invalid,  who  wishes  to  abjure  error 
and  die  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church."* 

Thus  were  realized  the  hopes  of  the  Holy  See,  in  organizing 
tlie  Episcopate  of  the  United  States. 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  do  la  Foi,  v.  711. 


•  ■■                             1 

IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


120 


led  that  tlio 
vas  over  fivo 
nigration  or 
iscopato   un- 
Klge  l»y  this 
3  Association 
th,  1832: 
it  have  been 
a  source  of 
^hich   [  have 
nee  over  that 
can  say  with 
3und  witli  jo// 
donhisgoot""- 
y  diocese,  my 
but  recall  that 
evc'v  nation, 
he  District  of 
I  venture  to 
of  Baltimore 
[people.    Con- 
,s,  and  not  a 
priests  being 
abjure  error 

fcn  organizing 


ClIAl'TEU    X. 

DIOCKBK    OF    DALTIMOKK — (1820-1884). 

Bccond  Provincial  Councll—Dccreen  as  totlio  election  of  bishops— Decrees  for  confti11ti)|t 
to  the  Jesuits  the  Negroes  and  Indlatis— The  colony  of  l^lberla  and  Bishop  Rarron— 
The  Cartnolltes— Liberality  of  Archbishop  Whittteld— Ills  character  and  death. 

The  years  wJiich  tullowed  tlie  meeting  of  the  first  I'rovincial 
Council  of  Baltimore  brought  various  changes  in  the  Episcopate 
of  the  United  States.  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans  had  left 
Louisiana  in  June,  1826,  to  assume  the  direction  of  the  diocese 
of  Montauban  in  France,  and  New  Orleans  had  for  several  years 
been  administered  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  Tlie  vacancy  of 
the  See  was  filled  by  the  Pontifical  rescript  of  August  4,  1829, 
appointing  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leo  De  Neckere,  a  Belgian  priest  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Missions,  Bishop  of  New  Orleans.  He  was 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Rosati  on  the  24tlx  of  Jimo,  1830,  and 
began  his  episcopate.  At  Cincinnati,  Bishop  Edward  Fetiwick, 
having  fallen  a  victim  to  the  cholera  in  1832,  had  been  replaced 
by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell,  consecrated  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1833.  At  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  William  Mathews,  appointed 
Administrator  of  the  diocese  by  a  Pontifical  brief  dated  February 
26,  1828,  having  refused  the  post  of  Coadjutor,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Patrick  Kenrick  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Arath  and  Coadjutor  of 
Philadelphia,  cum  plena  potcstate  ad  regendam  dioccemn,  and  was 
consecrated  on  the  6th  of  June,  1830.  Lastly,  the  Holy  See  had 
formed  a  special  diocese  of  Michigan  and  Norlhwest  Territory, 
which  comprised  what  is  now  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  and  named 
the  Rev.  Frederick  Res6  Bishop  of  Detroit.     The  new  prelate 

6* 


1 


M 


i    ■  . ! 


I    .     I 


r 


I  |I 


tiMmma-iSeti 


130 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


WHS  roiiM'cralcd  on  (lu;  Otli  v(  October,  1833,  at  Ciiieiniuili,  by 
]{isli(tj»  Hrulo. 

The  papers  of  iJishop  Hnito  contain  a  pag(!  written  at  tho  nio- 
TiK'iit  when  this  second  Coiiiieil  was  assenibHng,  ujul  which 
throw.^  considerable  li^ht  on  this  important  (piestiou.  According 
to  tlic  futiiro  Bishop  of  Vinconnes: 

"Tho  principal  point  to  examine  in  tho  second  I'rovincial 
Council  is  the  mode  to  be  ostablislicd  for  electing  bishops.  Till 
now  they  have  been  chosen  in  one  of  tho  five  following  ways  : 

"1st.  Proji.L  motu.  Some  one,  witliout  authority  or  war- 
rant, suggests  a  subject  to  the  Holy  See.  In  this  way  Bishops 
Concaiien,  Connolly,  Conwell,  Kelly,  and  England  were  aj)pointed. 

"  2d.  Tho  archbishop  and  his  sufiragans  agree  uj)on  a  person, 
and  sucli  was  the  presentation  of  Bishop  David  as  Coadjutor  of 
lUirdstown. 

"  3d.  Others  have  been  appointed  on  tlie  presentation  of  tho 
Lishop  of  the  diocese,  who  desired  a  coadjutor;  and  in  this  way 
Mr.  Blanc  was  named  to  tlie  See  of  New  Orleans,  which  ho  has 
I'cfused,  and  Mr.  Chabrat  is  now  for  Kontucliy.* 

"  4th.  Some  have  been  presented  by  bishops  of  other  dioceses, 
witliont  the  participation  of  tho  archbisliop.  Thus  Bishop  Pur- 
cell  was  appointed  at  tho  instance  of  Bishop  England ;  Bishop 
Kem'ick  had  written  to  Rome  in  favor  of  Hev.  John  Hughes,  and 
tlio  archbishop  in  favor  of  Fatlier  Dubuisson.f 


t 


*  Rev.  Antlioiiy  Bliinc  receivcil  in  1802  the  bulls  of  Biwliop  of  Apollonia 
and  Coadjutor  of  New  Orleans  ;  but  he  made  it  a  condition  that  Bishop  Do 
Ncckcro  should  abandon  liis  project  of  rcsipninfr.  That  prelate  havinj? 
persisted  in  handinjf  in  liis  demission,  Mr.  Blanc  sent  back  tho  bulls. 
Bishop  De  Neckere  having  died  on  the  4th  of  September,  1833,  Kev.  An- 
((ustus  Jcanjeau,  V.  G.,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  ;  but  ho  re- 
fused. In  October,  1835,  the  Kcv.  Anthony  Blanc  received  the  bulla  naming 
him  bishop  instead  of  Bishop  De  Neckere,  and  he  accepted. 

t  We  are  informed  that  tho  nomination  of  Dr.  rurcell  oriofimited  with 
Bishop  Kenrick.  It  was  supported  at  Kome  by  Bishop  England,  who,  how- 
ever, manifested  his  prcfcroncc  for  tho  appointment  of  Ecv.  Jolui  Hughes. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


131 


inti 


mi,  by 


at  the  nio- 

f 

iml  which 

V 

According 

,,v 

I'roviiiciiil 

» 

hops.     Till 

r  ways : 

ity  or  \\:\r- 

my  liishops 

0  appointed. 

DU  a  person, 

'oadjutov  of 

ition  of  tho 

in  this  way 

hich  he  has 

• 

lev  dioceses, 

r>ishop  riii- 

,ud;  Bishop 

lughcs,  and 

— ^  __ — 

)  of  Apolloniiv 

int  Bishop  Do 

irclutc  havinff 

ick  tho  bulls. 

i 

833,  Kcv.  Aw- 

s  ;  hut  ho  re- 

i  bulls  naming 

•iffinulecl  with 

k1,  who,  how- 

loliu  Hughes. 

*'  6th.  Lastly,  for  tlw  first  nomination,  that  of  Bishi)p  Carroll, 
the  Pope  granted  tlie  clergy  tho  privilege  of  electing  the  bishop, 
but  only  for  that  occasion,  reserving  in  future  the  nomination  to 
tho  Propaganda. 

"  Rome  asks  the  present  Council  to  lay  its  wishes  before  the 
Pope  for  his  approbation,  as  to  a  regular  mode  of  election  to  be 
observed  in  future.  Tho  Propaganda  hius  stated  that  they  will 
not  object  to  grant  America  election  as  in  Ireland." 

Tho  prelates  who  corresponded  to  tho  call  of  Archbishop  Whit- 
field, and  convened  with  their  Metropolitan  on  the  20th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1833,  were: 

Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Bishop  of  Mauricastro  and  Coadjutor 
of  Bardstown. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  Bishop  of  Charleston. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Dubois,  Bishop  of  Now  York. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Mobile. 

Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Arath,  Coadjutor  and 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia. 

Rt.  Rov.  Frederick  Rese,  Bishop  of  Detroit. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati. 

Tho  two  last-named  prelates  had  received  episcopal  consecra- 
tion only  a  few  days  before  the  opening  of  tho  Council.  Bishop 
Flaget,  of  Bardstown,  had  been  prevented  by  age  from  coming  to 


The  archbishop  wrote  in  favor  of  Rov.  Stephen  Dubuisson,  S.  J.,  but  the  ap- 
pointment of  Dr.  Purcell  having  been  already  made  by  the  Propaganda,  and 
communicated  to  tl>o  United  States  through  Bishop  England,  he  remonstrated 
against  any  change,  and  the  Pope  accordingly  confirmed  it. 

Father  Laregaudello  Dubuisson,  born  in  St.  Domingo,  October  21,  1786, 
first  entered  the  French  army,  and  was  in  1814  Secretary  of  the  Civil  List. 
About  this  time  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  Saint  Sulpice,  and,  on  his  ordi- 
nation, catno  to  America,  where  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  lauorod 
till  1840,  when  ill  health  compelled  him  to  retire  to  the  south  of  France. 


I  i 


I  i 


m' 


:  i 


i 


a  . 

ti  ' 


"— ""-"T— 


1!^ 


I'! 
>  ij'i 

1,'''; 


■ill: 


I       'il 


'('■i 


iiiji 


& 


132 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Baltimore,  and  Bishop  De  Neckere,  of  New  Orleans,  had  died  the 
preceding  month.* 

The  closing  of  the  Council  took  place  on  the  27th  of  October, 
and  by  the  first  decree  the  Fathers  solicited  of  the  Holy  Father 
the  erection  of  a  new  See  at  Vincenuos  for  Indiana  and  a  part  of 
lUinois. 


*  The  following  are  the  members  of  the  second  order  present  at  the 
Council : 

Rev,  Louia  Repris  Deloul,  V.  G.  of  Baltimore,  i  remoter. 

Rev.  Louis  E.  Damphoux,  Secretary. 

Rev.  John  Hoskyns,  Sec.  Died  January  11,  1887,  aged  twenty-nine. 
Vice-president  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore. 

Rev.  John  Joseph  Chanche,  Muster  of  Ceremonies.  Died  in  1852 ;  Bishop 
«f  Natchez. 

Rev.  John  Randanne,  Rev.  Peter  Fredet,  Chanters ;  both  Sulpitians,  and 
Professors  in  St.  Charles'  College ;  the  latter  died  in  1856. 

CONSULTING   THEOLOGIANS. 

Rev.  Father  William  McSherry,  Provincial  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Ma- 
ryland.    Died  December  17,  1839. 

Rev.  Father  Nicholas  D.  Young,  Provincial  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic; 
now  at  St.  Joseph's,  Cincinnati. 

Rev.  John  Tessier,  V.  G.,  Baltimore. 

Theologian  of  the  Archbishop  of  Ba'timore — Rev.  Samuel  Eocleston.  Died 
in  1851 ;  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans — Rev.  Augustus  Jeanjean.  Died 
at  New  Orleans,  April  11th,  1841,  aged  forty-six;  V.  G.  of  the  diocese. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Mauricastro — Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Charleston — Rev.  Andrew  Byrne ;  now  Bishop 
of  Little  Rock. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis — Rev.  John  Odin  ;  now  Bishop  of 
Galveston. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Boston — Rev.  John  J.  Chanche. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York — Rev.  John  Power.  Died  April 
14,  1849 :  Vicar-general,  New  York. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Mobile — Rev.  Peter  Mauvernay.  Died  Octo- 
ber 23,  1839 ;  President  of  Spring  Hill  College. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Arath— Rev.  John  Hughes ;  now  Archbishop 
of  New  York. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Detroit — Rev.  William  Mathews.  Died  in 
1854. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati — Rev.  Simon  Brute.  Consecrated, 
0«*ober  28, 1884,  Bishop  of  Vincennes.    Died  in  1889. 


m 


1 


IN  THE   LNITED  STATES. 


133 


lad  died  the 

of  October, 
ady  Father 
nd  a  part  of 


)resent  at  the 

i  twenty-nine. 
11852;  Bishop 
Sulpitians,  and 

if  Jesus  in  Ma- 
»f  St.  Dominic ; 

Iccleston.   Died 

leanjean.  Died 

diocese, 
th. 
le ;  now  Bishop 

now  Bishop  of 

e. 

;r.    Died  April 

Died  Ooto- 

ow  Archbishop 

lews.    Died  in 

Consecrated, 


1 


w 

■  1< 

I 


By  the  third  decree,  the  Council  set  forth  the  fixed  limits 
which  it  judged  proper  to  give  each  diocese. 

By  the  fourth  decree,  the  Council  submits  to  the  Holy  See  the 
following  mode  of  electing  the  bishops : 

'•  When  a  See  falls  vacant,  the  suffrages  of  the  other  bishops  in 
the  province  are  to  be  taken,  in  order  to  determine  the  priests  who 
shall  be  proposed  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  for  that  See.  If  a 
Provincial  Council  is  to  meet  within  three  months  after  the  pre- 
late's death,  the  bishops  are  to  wait  till  then  to  select  the  persons 
to  be  proposed.  Bishops  desiring  a  coadjutor  shall  also  submit 
to  the  vote  of  their  colleagues  in  council  assembled,  the  names  of 
the  clergymen  proposed  for  the  post  of  coadjutor. 

"  As  the  holding  of  a  Provincial  Council  may  be  remote,  every 
bishop  shall  keep  two  sealed  packages,  containing  the  names  of 
at  least  three  priests  who  seem  to  him  worthy  to  succeed  him. 
On  the  death  of  the  prelate,  the  Vicar-general  shall  transmit  one 
of  these  to  the  archbishop,  the  other  to  the  nearest  bishop.  The 
latter,  after  taking  note  of  the  names  given  by  the  late  prelate, 
shall  transmit  it  with  his  observations  to  the  archbishop.  The 
metropolitan  then  writes  to  all  liis  suflfragans,  submitting  to  their 
examination  the  three  names  given  by  the  late  prelate,  or  three 
others,  if  he  finds  serious  objections  to  the  former;  and  then 
every  bishop  writes  individually  to  the  Propaganda,  giving  his 
observations  on  the  three  or  on  th'>  ^:x  proposed.  On  the  death 
of  the  metropolitan,  the  dean  of  the  suffragans  shall  discharge  the 
duties  which,  in  other  circumstances,  devolve  on  the  archbishop. 
If  the  deceased  prelate  leave  among  his  papers  no  nomination  of 
a  successor,  the  nearest  bishop  suggests  three  names  to  the  arch- 
bishop, and  the  latter  submits  them  to  his  suffragans,  with  three 
other  names,  if  the  former  do  not  meet  his  confidence." 

On  the  I7th  of  May,  1834,  the  Congregation  wrote  to  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield,  transmitting  the  apostolic  brief  which  erected 
the  See  of  Vinconnes,  and  appointed  to  it  the  Rev.  Simon  Brute. 


134 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Uiy  11 


III  i , 


■   !!  , 


i(    ;l,i 


l!    ' 


By  a  decree  of  June  14th,  1834,  the  Propaganda  approved  the 
mode  proposed  for  nominating  bishops,  reserving  to  the  Holy  See 
the  right  and  liberty  of  choosing  any  other  than  those  thus  pro- 
posed by  the  bishops  of  the  United  States.  Lastly,  Pope  Gregory 
XVI.,  by  his  bull  of  June  17,  1834,  fixed  the  limits  of  the  dio- 
ceses according  to  the  decree  of  the  second  Council  of  Baltimore. 

In  its  fifth  decree  the  Council  had  asked  of  the  Holy  See  that 
the  Indian  tribes  dwelling  beyond  the  limits  of  the  fixed  dioceses 
of  the  United  States  should  be  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

The  Propaganda  solemnly  approved  the  decree,  and  this  hom- 
age rendered  to  the  Jesuits  by  the  American  hierarchy  is  a  new 
title  of  glory  for  the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius.  As  early  as  1823, 
Bishop  Dubourg,  of  New  Orleans,  wishing  to  revive  the  faith 
among  the  Indians  scattered  over  the  vast  extent  of  his  diocese, 
applied  to  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland,  begging  them  to  found  a 
mission  in  Missouri.  The  Fathers  could  not  answer  the  call. 
Seven  young  Belgians,  who  were  in  the  Maryland  novitiate, 
however,  set  out,  under  the  direction  of  Fathers  Van  Quicken- 
borne  and  Timmermann,  and  began  an  establishment  in  Florissant 
in  June,  1824.  Thence  the  Jesuits  visited  the  tribes  in  various 
parts,  announcing  the  Gospel  to  all.  After  the  action  of  the 
Council,  a  greater  development  was  given  to  this  apostolic  field. 
In  1834  missions  were  begun  in  the  district  called  the  Indian 
Territory,  west  of  Missouri,  and  in  1840,  Father  Peter  J.  De  Smet 
set  out  for  Oregon,  where  he  soon  founded  a  flourishing  mission.* 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council  also  recommended  to  the  Holy  See, 
by  their  sixth  decree,  the  negroes  who  emigrate  from  the  United 
S^''ies  to  the  African  colony  of  Liberia,  and  solicit  the  Propa- 
ganda to  found  in  behalf  of  these  blacks  on  the  coast  of  Africa  a 
mission  to  be  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Jesuits,     This  solicitude 

*  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United 
StutfeB,  by  John  G.  Shea.     New  Ydrk,  ISSS. 


UjI?, 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


135 


proved  the 
e  Holy  See 
3  thus  pro- 
pe  Gregory 
)f  the  dio- 
Baltimore. 
ly  See  that 
ed  dioceses 
the  Society 

I  this  horn- 
ly  is  a  new 
ly  as  1823, 
e  the  faith 
his  diocese, 
to  found  a 
pr  the  call. 

novitiate, 
n  Quickeu- 
u  Florissant 

in  various 

tion  of  the 

ostolic  field. 

the  Indian 

J.  De  Smet 

cr  mission.* 

le  Holy  See, 

the  United 

the  Propa- 

of  Africa  a 

is  solicitude 

of  the  United 


■■•« 


1 


of  the  American  Church  for  the  salvation  of  the  blacks,  even  after 
leaving  the  soil  of  the  United  States,  induces  us  to  give  a  brief 
fiketch  of  the  colony  of  Liberia. 

In  1787  a  philanthropical  society  was  formed  at  London,  to 
send  to  Sierra  Leone  the  negroes  who,  during  the  war  of  the 
American  Revolution,  had  sought  refuge  in  the  ranks  of  the 
British  army,  and  had  returned  to  Great  Britain  with  the  other 
troops  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  idea  of  the  London  philanthropists  was  to  restore  tlicse 
blacks  to  the  African  continent  from  which  their  fathers  had  been 
torn,  and  it  was  believed  that  there  alone,  free  from  the  tradi- 
tional contempt  attached  to  their  color,  and  from  which  no  eman- 
cipation is  complete  enough  to  free  them,  the  civilized  negi'oes 
might  constitute  by  themselves  an  independent  society,  and  labor 
with  profit  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  on  the  coast.  This  generous 
idea  spread  to  America,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1817,  a  pow- 
erful colonization  society  was  organized  at  Washington,  intended 
to  transport  free  negroes  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  there  create 
a  country  for  them.  The  first  emigration  took  place  in  1819,  and 
Monrovia  was  founded  at  Cape  Mesurado,  the  whole  country  which 
they  hoped  to  colonize  receiving  the  name  of  Liberia.  The  com- 
mencement was  diflScult,  as  happens  in  eveiy  effort  of  the  kind, 
and  in  1833  an  independent  colonization  society  was  formed  in 
Maryland,  resolved  to  form  a  settlement  distinct  from  that  of  the 
national  society.  All  minds  at  Baltimore  were  occupied  with  this 
project  in  1833,  when  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  interested  in 
all  that  concerns  the  great  human  family,  made  it  the  object  of 
their  deliberations.  The  Maryland  colony  was  founded  at  Cape 
Palmas,  between  latitude  four  degrees  and  five  degrees  north,  two 
degrees  south  of  Cape  Mesurado.* 

We  have  always  wished  success  to  the  interesting  establish- 

*  A  History  of  Colonization  on  the  Western  Coast  of  Africa,  b^-  Archibald 
Alexander.    Philaddphia,  1848. 


0 


I  i 


11 


'h 


',! 


'.■  \    » 


'  li 


!  \ 


1     .,1 


1    ill 

'1 1 


■'J 


hi' 


136 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ment  on  the  coast  of  Liberia — success  less  sure  now  than  ever. 
If  we  have  httle  sympathy  with  the  dreamers  who  from  to-day  to 
to-mori'ow  create,  with  the  stroke  of  a  pen,  civil  and  political 
rights  for  whole  populations  of  slaves ;  if  we  do  not  believe  in  the 
instantaneous  initiation  of  the  ignorant  and  brutalized  negro, 
whom  they  would  make  an  elector  before  making  him  a  Chris- 
tian, we  can  appreciate  the  high  and  charitable  views  of  those 
Americans  who,  seeing  their  cities  full  of  free  blacks,  vegetating 
in  misery,  seek  to  persuade  these  poor  people  to  return  to  Africa, 
whence  their  fathers  came.  There  the  negroes  receive  lands, 
provisions,  farming  implements.  Their  passage  and  that  of  their 
families  is  paid,  and  to  colored  men  of  intelligence  and  education 
a  fair  field  lies  open  to  take  part  in  a  government  already  or- 
ganized, to  labor  in  extinguishing  the  slave-trade  and  regenerating 
the  neighboring  tribes,  and  indeed  all  Africa* 

Unfortunately  the  various  colonization  societies  formed  to  peo- 
ple the  African  coast  are  animated  by  sectarianism,  and  this  has 
frequently  made  all  their  sacrifices  sterile  of  result.  The  Method- 
ists and  Baptists  expend  large  sums  in  maintaining  missionaries 
in  Liberia,  but  the  rivalry  of  these  gentlemen,  more  in  the  field  of 
commerce  than  in  that  of  theology,  destroys  the  material  good 
which  their  concurrence  might  afford  the  blacks.  Unfortunately, 
too,  the  climate  devours  the  immigrants,  and  of  the  five  thousand 
negroes  sent  at  great  expense  from  Maryland  to  Cape  Palmas, 
only  seven  hundred  survived  in  1842,  lingering  on  a  burning 
coast,  and  undermined  by  a  terrible  fever,  which  attacks  even  do- 
mestic animals. 

The  attention  of  the  Holy  Father  is  never  called  in  vain  to  any 
part  of  Christendom,  and  the  African  race  has  no  smaller  share 
in  the  solicitude  of  the  Church  than  the  rod-man  of  the  American 
forest.     The   Propaganda  approved   the  decree  of  the   second 

*  Message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  1844-5. 


0 


^ 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


137 


r  than  ever. 
m  to-day  to 
nd  political 
elieve  in  the 
[ized  negro, 
lim  a  Chris- 
ws  of  those 
3,  vegetating 
rn  to  Africa, 
iceive  lands, 
that  of  their 
Qd  education 
b  already  or- 
regenerating 

rmed  to  peo- 
and  this  has 
The  Method- 
missionaries 
n  the  field  of 
laterial  good 
nfortunately, 
ive  thousand 
lape  Palmas, 
n  a  burning 
Lcks  even  do- 

a  vain  to  any 

mailer  share 

le  American 

the  second 

-5. 


i 

m 


1 


Council  of  Baltimore  relative  to  the  Liberiim  negroes.  It  seems, 
however,  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  unable  in  1834  to  under- 
take that  mission;  but  in  1840  the  Holy  See  expressed  to  the 
bishops  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  its  desire  that  each  should 
appoint  a  missionary  to  go  to  the  African  colony.  It  was  consid- 
ered that  as  the  blacks  sent  there  were  from  the  United  States, 
and  as  some  from  Maryland  were  Catholics,  it  was  proper  that 
the  priests  appointed  to  announce  the  true  faith  to  them  should 
be  from  the  same  country.  Two  ecclesiastics  of  Irish  birth,  the 
Rev.  Edward  Bai'ron  and  the  Rev.  John  Kelly,  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  task  at  the  call  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff',  and,  accom- 
panied by  a  young  catechist  named  Dennis  Pindar,*  sailed  from 
Baltimore  on  the  21st  of  December,  1841,  for  Cape  Mesurado, 
whence  they  proceeded  to  Cape  Palmas.  On  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1842,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barron  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  for 
the  first  time  in  that  land,  where  the  Gospel  seems  never  to 
have  been  preached  from  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  ceu- 
tury.f 

The  two  missionaries  immediately  began,  by  means  <  f  inter- 
preters, to  preach  to  the  natives,  and  the  nation  of  the  h-ebos 
was  soon  induced  to  consecrate  the  Sunday  to  rest.  After  a .  hort 
stay  in  Liberia,  Mr.  Ban-on  returned  to  the  United  States,  and 
thence  to  Ireland  and  Rome,  to  give  an  account  of  the  hopes  of 
his  mission,  and  to  realize  from  his  hereditary  estate  the  resources 
he  needed.  At  Rome  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity, 
with  the  title  of  Vicar-apostolic  of  both  Guineas,  and  obtained 
seven  priests  of  the  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  and 


*  Dennis  Pindar,  born  at  Fermoy,  in  Ireland,  in  1823,  died  at  Cape  Pal- 
mas, January  1,  1844,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  after  having  displayed  for 
two  years  the  most  admirable  aeal  in  the  labors  of  the  mission.  To  his  care 
Bishop  Barron  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kelly  owed  their  lives  in  the  fevers  which 
attacked  them  on  that  fatal  shore. 

t  In  1604,  the  Jesuits,  under  Father  Bareira,  established  a  mission  at 
Bierra  Leone,  and  converted  a  native  prince  and  many  of  his  people. 


mmmmmmm 


it 


138 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IM 


three  brothers  of  the  same  Order,  who  sailed  from  Bordeaux  in 
September,  and  arrived  at  Cape  Palmas  on  the  30th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1843.  These  missionaries  were  M.  John  Remi  Bessieur,  of 
the  diocese  of  Montpelier,  now  (1849)  Bishop  of  CalHpolis  and 
Vicar-apostoHc  of  both  Guineas ;  M.  De  Regnier,  who  died  at  the 
close  of  December,  1843;  M.  John  Louis  Rousset,  of  Amiens, 
who  soon  followed  him  to  the  grave ;  Mr.  Francis  Bouchet,  of  the 
diocese  of  Annecy,  who  died  at  sea  on  the  28th  of  May,  1844, 
while  going  from  Assinee  to  Toal  with  Bishop  Barron ;  Mr.  Au- 
dibert,  who  died  at  Great  Bassem ;  Mr.  Laval,  who  died  at  Assi- 
n6o  in  the  summer  of  1844;  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Maurice,  now  a 
missionary  in  the  United  States.* 

Three  Irish  brothers  or  students,  who  accompanied  the  mis- 
sionaries, all  sank  under  the  terrible  climate ;  but  three  French 
brothers,  though  attacked  by  the  fever,  finally  escaped. 

Bishop  Barron  was  thus  almost  in  a  moment  deprived  of  his 
zealous  co-laborers ;  all  being  stricken  down,  many  forever,  by 
the  fatal  climate.  The  indefatigable  Mr.  Kelly,  sick  himself,  dis- 
charged with  admirable  charity  the  part  of  physician  of  soul  and 
body  for  his  pious  brethren.  The  prelate,  after  again  visiting 
Rome,  deemed  it  best  to  confide  the  arduous  duties  of  his  mission 
to  the  Society  of  Father  Liebermann,  especially  devoted  to  the 
conversion  of  the  blacks.  He  accordingly  resigned  his  vicariate, 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1846,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Kelly  followed  his  example. 

Such  have  been  the  attempts  made  by  the  American  Church 
to  evangelize  the  blacks  on  the  African  coast.  If  it  was  com- 
pelled  to  renounce  the  difficult  and  ungrateful  task,  it  has  the 


;i"'; 


:MVh 


*  The  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  vol.  xix.  p.  102,  represent 
Mr.  Maurice  as  dying  there ;  but,  thank  heaven,  he  is  full  of  life.  In  1846 
lie  devoted  himself  to  the  American  missions.  He  spent  several  years  in  the 
dioceftf^  of  Toronto,  and  is  now  pastor  of  St.  Peter's,  Buflfalo ;  and  to  hia 
politeness  we  owe  the  above  facts  and  namea. 


Ill 


m  I! 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


139 


Bordeaux  in 
h  of  Novem- 
i  Bessieur,  of 
/jillipolis  and 
10  died  at  the 
,  of  Amiens, 
ouchet,  of  the 
f  May,  1844, 
ron ;  Mr.  Au- 
died  at  Assi- 
.urice,  now  a 

lied  the  mis- 
three  French 
)ed. 

eprived  of  his 

ly  forever,  by 

:  himself,  dis- 

,n  of  soul  and 

igain  visiting 

tf  his  mission 

voted  to  the 

his  vicariate, 

e  Rev.  John 

irican  Church 

it  was  com- 

Ik,  it  has  the 


102,  represent 

life.    In  1846 

|ral  years  in  the 

ilo;  and  to  his 


m 


merit  of  pointing  out  the  good  to  be  done,  and  that  of  having 
furnished  the  first  missionaries  for  that  apostolic  work.* 

By  the  eighth  decree,  the  bishops  were  exhorted  to  open  an 
ecclesiastical  seminary  in  each  diocese,  conformably  to  the  pre- 
scriptions of  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  by  the  ninth  decree,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  corr.i  osed  of  the  presidents  of  the 
three  colleges  of  St.  Mary's,  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  Georgetown, 
to  revise  and  expurge  the  books  intended  for  Catholic  schools. 
Nothing  is  indeed  more  important  than  to  put  children  on  their 
guard  against  the  wide-spread  prejudice  by  which  religion  is  mis- 
represented and  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  masses  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  pastoral  letter  of  the  first  Council,  the  bishops  had 
already  expatiated  on  the  bitter  results  of  these  preventions,  and 
their  remarks  have  a  practical  character  which  renders  them  ap- 
plicable to  the  present  as  to  the  period  when  they  were  written. 

"Good  men,"  said  the  prelates  in  1829,  "men  otherwise  well 
informed,  deeply  versed  in  science,  in  history,  in  politics — men 


*  Edward  Barron,  Bishop  of  Constantino  and  Vicar-apostolic  of  hoth  Gui- 
neas, was  born  in  Ireland  in  1801,  and  was  a  brother  of  Sir  Henry  Winton 
Barron  of  Waterford.  He  studied  at  the  College  of  the  Propaganda  at  Eome, 
and  won  the  doctor's  cap.  Some  years  after  his  return  to  Ireland  ho  came 
to  America,  and  was  made  Vicar-general  of  Philadelphia.  On  his  return 
from  Liberia  in  1845,  Bishop  Barron  repeatedly  refused  a  diocese,  preferring 
to  devote  himself  to  the  humble  labors  of  the  mission,  first  at  Philadelphia, 
thon  at  St.  Louis,  and  finally  in  Florida.  Ho  was  at  Savannah  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1854,  when  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  with  fearful  violence ;  and 
for  two  weeks  ho  devoted  himself  with  boundless  zeal  to  bear  to  the  afflicted 
all  the  consolations  of  religion.  He  was  at  last  seized  himself,  and  Bishop 
Gartland  of  Savannah  lavished  every  care  on  him  at  his  house,  when  a  ter- 
rible hurricane  unroofed  it  and  left  the  holy  invalid  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  elements.  Hastily  transferred  to  the  house  of  a  pious  Catholic  in  Savan- 
nah, the  first  Bishop  of  both  Guineas  died  a  martyr  of  charity  on  the  12th  of 
September,  1854,  and  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month  Bicihop  Gartland  fol- 
lowed him  to  heaven,  another  victim  of  his  apostolic  zeal.  The  Eev.  John 
Kelly,  the  companion  of  Bishop  Barron  at  Cape  Palmas,  is  now  pastor  of 
Jersey  City.  To  his  kindness  wc  arc  indebted  for  most  of  the  details  which 
we  have  been  able  to  give  as  to  this  most  interesting  mission  on  the  coast  of 
Africa. 


140 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I-;    ! 


J'M 


,'^-'iI 


:!:■!•  1 


m 


I'i  : 


wlio  have  improved  their  education  by  their  travels  abroad,  as 
well  as  they  who  have  merely  acquired  the  very  rudiments  of 
knowledge  at  home ;  the  virtuous  women  who  influence  that  so- 
ciety which  they  decorate,  and  yielding  to  the  benevolence  of 
their  hearts,  desire  to  extend  useful  knowledge;  the  public  press; 
the  very  bench  of  public  justice,  have  been  all  influenced  by  ex- 
traordinary efforts  directe<l  against  us :  so  that  from  the  very 
highest  place  in  our  land  to  all  its  remotest  borders,  we  are  ex- 
hibited as  what  we  are  not,  and  charged  with  maintaining  what 
we  detest.  Repetition  has  given  to  those  statements  a  semblance 
of  evidence  ;  and  groundless  assertions,  remaining  almost  uncon- 
tradicted, wear  the  appearance  of  admitted  and  irrefragable  truth. 
.  .  .  Not  only  are  the  misrepresentations  of  which  Vi^e  complain 
propagated  so  as  to  affect  the  mature,  but,  with  a  zeal  worthy  of 
a  better  cause,  and  which  some  persons  have  exhibited  in  contrast 
with  our  seeming  apathy,  the  mind  of  the  very  infant  is  predis- 
posed against  us  by  the  recitals  of  the  nursery,  and  the  schoolboy 
can  scarcely  find  a  book  in  which  some  one  or  more  of  our  insti- 
tutions or  practices  is  not  exhibited  far  otherwise  than  it  really  is, 
and  greatly  to  our  disadvantage.  The  entire  system  of  education 
is  thus  tinged  throughout  its  whole  course,  and  history  itself  has 
been  distorted  to  our  serious  injury."* 

The  two  councils  over  which  Archbishop  Whitfield  had  the 
glory  of  presiding,  and  which  illustrate  the  period  of  his  short 
episcopacy,  displayed  the  dignity  and  conciliating  spirit  of  the 
venerable  metropolitan.  The  sessions  were  conducted  with  an 
order  and  unanimity  which  gave  general  satisfaction.  Before 
these  august  assemblies  the  prelates  of  the  United  States  had 
only  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  each  other ;  they  were  united 
only  by  the  common  sentiment  of  respect  which  the  episcopal 
character  inspired ;  but  after  deliberating  together  on  the  gravest 

«  ■  .  ■    i — ..  .. ,  .      ..      ..     .... , , „ 

*  Notioo  of  tlio  Eev.  James  Whitfield ;  Catholic  Magazine,  iv.  461. 


0 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


141 


;ls  abroad,  jw 
rudimenis  of 
ence  that  so- 
inevolence  of 
public  press; 
Lienced  by  ex- 
■om  the  very 
s,  we  are  ex- 
Qtaining  what 
s  a  semblance 
almost  uncon- 
ragablo  truth, 
v/e  complain 
seal  worthy  of 
;ed  in  contrast 
ant  is  predis- 
[the  schoolboy 
3  of  our  insti- 
an  it  really  is, 
1  of  education 
;ory  itself  has 

field  had  the 
of  his  short 
spirit  of  the 
cted  with  aa 
tion.  Before 
d  States  had 
Y  were  united 
he  episcopal 
In  the  gravest 

ic,  iv.  461. 


interests  of  the  Church,  after  learning  to  esteem  and  love  each 
otlior,  while  exchanging  opinions  often  difterent,  but  always  based 
on  the  desire  of  the  general  good,  the  bishops  separated  to  bear 
to  their  several  dioceses  sentiments  of  sincercst  friendship  and 
esteem  for  each  other.  The  deliberations  of  the  Councils  were 
very  important  in  the  eyes  of  the  Catholic  population ;  they  con- 
trasted with  the  tumultuous  assemblies  of  I'rotestautism,  and  such 
was  the  veneration  which  they  inspired,  that  three  celebrated 
jurists,  admitted  once  before  the  bishops  to  give  an  opinion  on 
some  points  relating  to  the  civil  law  of  the  land,  left  the  Council 
full  of  respect  and  wonder.  "  We  have,"  they  said,  "  appeared 
before  solemn  tribunals  of  justice,  but  have  never  had  less  assur- 
ance, or  felt  less  confidence  in  ourselves,  than  when  we  entered 
that  augast  assembly."* 

During  the  whole  period  of  his  administration,  Archbishop 
Whitfield  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  three  female  religious  com- 
munities in  his  diocese,  and  showed  his  active  solicitude,  especially 
for  the  Carmelites,  because  they  had  to  undergo  trials  which 
compromised  the  very  existence  of  their  convent.  We  have  said 
in  a  previous  chapter  that  the  first  Carmelite  nuns  arrived  in  Ma- 
ryland in  1*790,  under  the  direction  of  Father  Charles  Neale. 
Iheir  subsequent  history  was  there  traced,  and  we  alluded  briefly 
to  their  struggles,  and  to  the  interest  which  Archbishop  Whit- 
field had  always  taken  in  that  devoted  community  of  pious  con- 
templatives.  Their  income  had  become  so  reduced,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  convent  to  subsist :  no  generous  founder  ap- 
peared to  enable  them,  by  his  alms,  to  continue  their  life  of  aus- 
terity and  prayer.  A  dissolution  seemed  unavoidable,  but  the 
archbishop  advised  a  removal  to  Baltimore,  and  such  a  modifica- 

*  Archbishop  Whitfield's  letter  of  January  28th,  t830  ;  Annales  de  la 
Propagation,  iv.  243.  The  three  jurists  were  Koger  B.  Taney,  John  Scott, 
and  William  G.  Read.  The  first  ia  now  Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States. 


■:!■ 


i 


m 


'■l  'M 


■"!.'!! 


if     .1 


i  ,     ,1 


t  fi\.: 


i  • 


142 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


tion  of  tlieir  rule  ns  would  enable  tlicin  to  join  tbo  other  sister- 
hoods in  tho  great  work  of  teacliini?  the  young  of  their  own  sex. 
At  their  desire,  he  applied  to  the  Holy  Sec,  and,  as  wo  have  seen, 
obtained  the  necessary  dispensation.  After  their  transfer  to  Balti- 
more, the  good  nuns  found  in  Archbishop  Whittle',  i  a  generous 
father.  Their  school,  opened  soon  after  arrival,  was  continued 
till  1852,  and  proved  a  source  of  incalculable  blessings  to  the 
Catholics  of  that  city. 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  another  of  the  venerable  foundresses, 
Sister  Aloysia  Matthews,  expired,  on  the  12th  of  November,  1833, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one,  after  a  life  of  eminent  piety 
and  devotedness  to  her  rule.  Since  their  stay  in  Baltimore,  they 
have  had  among  their  excellent  chaplains,  the  Rev.  Matthew 
Herard,  a  French  cleigyman,  who  not  only  guided  them  by  his 
counsels,  but  aided  them  with  his  means  to  erect  their  present 
choir  and  chapel,  and  left  them  an  annuity  of  several  himdred 
dollars  for  the  support  of  a  chaplain.  After  his  time,  they  were 
for  some  years  directed  by  the  talented  and  zealous  Rev.  John 
B.  Gildea,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  elsewhere, 
and  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  Griffin. 

Since  the  close  of  their  school,  the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mount  Carmel,  whose  community  now  numbers  twenty  professed 
Sisters  and  one  novice,  see  once  more  renewed  the  trials  which 
encompassed  the  latter  days  of  their  stay  at  Port  Tobacco. 
Their  certain  regular  income  is  scarcely  more  than  a  hundred 
dollars;  for  all  else  they  rely  on  Providence,  which  will,  we 
trust,  ere  long  raise  them  up  a  generous  founder  to  endow  their 
house,  and  enable  our  country  to  possess,  for  many  a  day,  the 
blessings  which  such  a  community  must  bring. 

Doubtless  Archbishop  Whitfield,  had  he  foreseen  all,  would 
have  devoted  means  to  so  good  a  work,  for  he  lavished  his  for- 
tune on  the  diocese  to  which  the  voice  of  Peter  had  called  him. 
The  Cathedral  of  Baltimore  especially  shows  the  effects  of  his  zeal 


■•^ 


t  ! 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


143 


3thor  sister- 
•ir  own  sex. 
0  havo  seen, 
ifer  to  Bulti- 
.  a  generous 
s  continued 
■inscs  to  the 

foundresses, 
jmber,  1833, 
ninent  piety 
Itimorc,  they 
i3V.  Matthew 
them  by  his 
their  present 
3ral  hundred 
ie,  they  were 
lis  Rev.  John 
c  elsewhere, 

)ur  Lady  of 
nty  professed 

trials  which 
ort  Tobacco, 
a  hundred 
ich  will,  we 

endow  their 
y  a  day,  the 

n  all,  woiild 
shed  his  for- 
1  called  him. 
t',»  of  his  zeal 


M 


m 


and  liberality  in  the  construction  of  one  of  the  towers,  which  was 
began  and  completed  during  his  administration.  Tiio  prelate 
gave  also  considerable  sums  for  the  erection  of  the  archiepiscopal 
residence,  near  the  cathedral;  and  finally,  he  built, entirely  at  his 
own  expense,  the  beautiful  church  of  St.  James  at  Baltimore. 
Archbishop  Whitfield  laid  the  corner-stone  on  the  Ist  of  Mfiy, 
1833,  and  on  the  same  day,  in  the  following  year,  lie  solemnly 
celebrated  the  ceremony  of  the  consecration,  attended  by  a  nu- 
merous clergy.  But  the  archbishop  lived  only  just  long  enough 
to  see  the  noble  pile  completed.  In  course  of  the  summer  of 
1834  he  was  advised  by  his  physicians  to  visit  the  Springs  to  im- 
prove his  fast  declining  health.  All  the  eflforts  of  science  failed 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  disease,  and  Archbishop  Whitfield 
expired  on  the  19th  of  October,  1834,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of 
liis  age.  Ilis  biographer  has  given  us  the  following  portrait  of 
him : 

"  Of  Archbishop  Whitfield  may  be  said  what  can  bo  said  of 
few — that  he  entered  the  career  of  honors  in  wealth  and  left  it 
poor.  Prudence  and  energy  were  traits  in  his  character  very 
observable  to  those  who  had  an  opportunity  of  duly  appreciating 
it,  and  many  acts  of  his  administration  have  been  censured,  be- 
cause, through  a  spirit  of  charity  and  forbearance  towards  his 
neighbor,  he  abstained  from  exposing  to  public  view  the  grounds 
that  justified  and  compelled  such  a  course  of  proceeding.  If 
there  was  more  or  less  austerity  in  his  manner,  it  did  not  prevent 
him  from  cherishing  with  paternal  feelings  and  promoting  by  fre- 
quent acts  of  benevolence  the  happiness  of  the  indigent  and  the 
orphan.  Kond  of  retirement  and  indifferent  to  the  opinions  of 
the  world,  he  seemed  particularly  solicitous  to  merit  the  favor  of 
Him  '  who  seeth  in  secret,'  and  is  always  prepared  to  awaid  the 
crown  of  justice  to  his  faithful  servants."* 

*  Cfttholic  Magazine,  viii.  24-38, 


^i  I 


II 


;  1 1 


li'i 
Wr'iM 

^!;'  ]:i 

;tl'ii! 


141 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Wo  sliiiU  add  but  two  words  to  this  portniit :  it  is,  that  by 
convoking  the  enrly  councils  of  liultitnorc,  and  directing  their 
deliberations  with  tlio  rnoHt  remarkable  «liHtinction,  Archbishop 
Whitfield  contributed  most  amply  and  eflicaciously  to  organize 
the  Church  in  the  United  States.  Among  the  papers  of  Bishop 
Brut6  we  have  found  a  note  in  tiiat  prelate's  handwriting,  which 
gives  the  exact  number  of  priests  in  each  of  the  twelve  dioceses 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1833.  They  num- 
bered then,  in  all,  three  huu<lred  and  eight  ecclesiastics — seventy- 
two  American  born,  ninety-one  Irisli,  seventy-three  French,  seven- 
teen Italians,  thirty-nine  Belgians  and  Germans,  some  English 
and  Spanish,  and  one  Pole.  This  diversity  of  origin  undoubtedly 
increases  the  difficulty  of  creating  among  the  clergy  a  homoge- 
neous spint;  yet  the  Catlu»lic  spirit  rules  in  all  its  glory,  and 
neutralizes  the  different  nationalities.  Moreover,  the  population 
of  the  United  States  is  only  a  mixture  of  all  races.  This  forms 
its  distinctive  characteristic,  and  the  clergy  only  renews  the  vaned 
origin  of  the  nations.  Of  these  three  hundred  and  eight  ecclesi- 
astics, one  hundred  and  seventy  had  been  ordained  in  the  United 
States,  making  over  half  the  whole  number ;  but  this  result  is 
not  so  consoling  as  might  be  at  first  supposed,  if  it  be  remarked 
that  only  seventy-two  are  Americans.  The  bishops  who  go  to 
Europe  generally  bring  back  seminarians,  who  receive  holy  orders 
in  the  United  States.  Among  the  names  of  the  ecclesiastics  there 
were  forty-three  Jesuits,  fourteen  Sulpitians,  ten  Dominicans, 
twelve  Lazarists,  and  three  Augustinians ;  and  we  shall  soon  see 
the  Rederaptorists  and  the  Oblates  swell  the  ranks  of  the  regular 
clergy,  especially  precious  in  a  mission  land.*  , 

♦  Catliolic  Magazine,  iv.  4C3. 
4* 


it 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATED 


146 


t  is,  thiit  by 
reeling  thoir 
,  Archbishop 
J  to  orgfinize 
rs  of  Bishop 
riling,  which 
^elve  dioceses 
They  num- 
ic8 — seventy- 
French,  sevon- 
sorao  English 
I  undoubtedly 
gy  a  homoge- 
its  glory,  and 
he  population 
,.    This  forms 
ews  the  vai-ied 
[  eight  ecclesi- 
in  the  United 
this  result  is 
be  remarked 
ps  who  go  to 
ve  holy  orders 
<  siastics  there 
Dominicans, 
shall  soon  see 
lof  the  regular 


CHAPTER   XI. 

DIOOESK    OF    nAI/riMOUK (1884-1840). 

MoitTlcv.  Sftniuel  Eccleston,  D.  D.,  ftlth  ArolililHhopof  Bftltlmore— Tli*  Brothsni  of  th« 
Christian  Schoolst— The  KtMlomptorlsta— The  Oerman  CathollcD— Tho  Lazarlsts— Third 
Council  of  Baltlraoro— Now  Kplscopal  Sees— Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore — Bishop 
Forbln-Janson  In  Atiierlcu— DI()co8e8  of  Itlchinond  und  Wheeling,  aud  a  glance  at  re- 
ligion in  Virginia 

Before  sickness  had  seriously  enfeebled  Archbishop  Whitfield, 
that  prelate  and  his  suffragans  had  been  engaged  in  proposing  to 
the  Holy  See  an  ecclesiastic  whose  zeal  and  piety  fitted  him  to 
govern  a  diocese  so  important  as  that  of  Baltimore ;  and  such  a 
person  they  had  found  in  the  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  President 
of  St.  Mary's  College.  The  Propm; mda  approved  this  choice, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1834  Arch  I  >  .shop  Whitfield  received  letters 
apostolic,  nominating  Mr.  Eccl(.'>i.'H  Bishop  of  Thermia  in partib^is, 
and  Coadjutor  of  the  Archb  shop  of  Baltimore,  with  the  right  of 
succession.  The  prelate  t>ltx-t  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Baltimore  on  the  14th  of  September  in  Uie  same  year,  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  performing  the  ceremony.  But  that  worthy 
dign'tary  soon  sunk  under  the  weight  of  his  infirmities,  and  at  ^is 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  19th  of  October,  1834,  Dr.  Eccles- 
ton became  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  In  the  following  year  he 
received  the  pallium,  the  complement  of  his  metropoUtau  dignity; 
and  he  was  at  the  same  time,  as  his  two  predecessors  had  been, 
invested  with  the  administration  of  the  See  of  Richmond,  for 
which  the  Holy  See  appointed  no  bishop  till  1841. 

Samuel  Eccleston  was  born  on  the  27th  of  June,  1801,  in  Kent 
county,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.     His  grandfather,  Sir 

7 


r-i^WF* 


146 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


fi'i  ' 


kin'  •■ 


fi 


i      !i   li 


John  Eccleston,  Lad  emigrated  thither  from  England  some  years 
before  the  Revolutionary  War.     His  parents  occupied  an  honora- 
ble position  in  society,  and  belonged  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which,  too,  young  Samuel  was  educated.     But  while 
still  young  his  mother  became  a  widow,  and  married  a  worthy 
Catholic ;  and  this  event  opened  to  him  a  horizon  of  light  and 
grace,  considerably  developed  in  the  sequel  by  his  education. 
The  young  man  was  placed  at  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  and 
distinguished  himself  in  all  branches  of  study,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  learned  to  know  religion.     He  there  embraced  the  Cath- 
olic faith  while  still  at  college,  and  was  so  deeply  impressed  at 
the  death  of  one  of  his  venerable  professors,  that  he  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  the  ecclesiastical  state.     He  entered  the  serai- 
nary  attached  to  the  college  on  the  23d  of  May,  1819,  but  was 
scarcely  inclosed  in  this  retreat  of  his  choice  when  he  was  beset 
with  pressing  solicitations  from  his  kindred  and  friends  to  abandon 
a  career  in  their  eyes  contemptible,  and  to  return  to  the  world,  of 
which  they  displayed  the  attractions.     No  consideration  could 
alter  Eccleston's  step ;  on  the  contrary,  temptations  confirmed 
him  in  his  pious  design,  and  he  received  the  tonsui*e  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1820.     "While  pursuing  his  theological  studies,  he 
rendered  useful  service  in  the  college  as  professor.     Deacon's 
orders  were  conferred  on  him  in  1823,  and  on  the  24th  of  April, 
1825,  he  was  raised  to  ecclesiastical  dignity.     Five  months  after 
his  ordination  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eccleston  repaired  to  France,  and 
spent  almost  two  years  in  ''  ,  Sulj^itian  solitude  at  Issy.     Re- 
turning home  in  1827,  after  visiting  Ireland  and  England,  he 
brought  back  an  immense  fund  of  acquired  knowledge  and  ar- 
dent zeal  for  the  cause  of  religion.     Appointed  Vice-president  of 
St.  Mary's  College,  then  President  of  that  institution,  he  dis- 
charged with  remarkable  success  these  important  functions,  when 
the  confidence  of  the  Holy  See  selected  him  for  the  Episcopate. 
On  his  succession,  Archbishop  Eccleston  found  religion  flour- 


' 


t'm 


in 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


147 


i  some  years 
id  an  honora- 
ant  Episcopal 
1.    But  wbile 
L-ied  a  worthy 
L  of  light  and 
his  education. 
Baltimore,  and 
the  same  time 
aced  the  Cath- 
y  impressed  at 
he  resolved  to 
tered  the  semi- 
,  1819,  but  was 
m  he  was  beset 
snds  to  abandon 
to  the  world,  of 
^deration  could 
tions  confirmed 
ire  in  the  course 
;ical  studies,  he 
-ssor.     Deacon's 
24th  of  April, 
e  months  after 
to  France,  and 
le  at  Issy.     Re- 
Ind  England,  he 
wledge  and  ar- 
ice-president  of 
^itution,  he  dis- 
[functions,  when 
le  Episcopate, 
religion  flour- 


ishing in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Ecclesiastical  seminaries,  re- 
ligious institutions,  several  houses  for  the  education  of  youth  of 
both  sexes,  and  a  numerous  clergy  for  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
— these  resources  showed  themselves  only  in  Maryland ;  Catho- 
licity is  better  spread  there  than  in  most  of  the  States  of  the 
Union.  The  archbishop  felt,  however,  that  the  growing  wants  of 
the  faithful  required  renewed  efforts ;  and  he  took  to  heart  to  in- 
crease the  facilities  for  religious  instruction.  During  his  admin- 
istration, the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown  opened  three 
new  schools — at  Baltimore,  Frederick,  and  Washington.  The 
Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  invited  to  Baltimore,  opened  a 
novitiate  at  Calvert  Hall ;  and  before  the  prelate's  death,  these 
four  schools  were  frequented  by  eleven  hundred  scholars,  while 
the  pious  teachers  of  youth  gave  at  the  same  time  their  care  to 
an  orphan  asylum  containing  sixty-four  children.*  Other  schools 
were  directed  by  the  Brothers  of  St.  Patrick,  who,  at  the  same 
time,  managed  a  model  farm,  where  a  manual-labor  school  was 
founded  in  1848  by  the  Rev.  James  Dolan,  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's, 


*  The  Institute  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  was  founded  in 
1679,  by  the  venerable  John  Baptist  de  la  Salle,  and  approved  by  Pope  Bon- 
edict  XIII.  The  professed  liouse  was  first  at  St. Yon,  near  Arpajon,  whence 
the  Brothers  have  often  been  called  Brothers  of  St.  Yon.  At  present,  how- 
ever, the  General  resides  at  Passy,  near  Paris.  The  govjirnmeiit  of  the  insti- 
tute is  divided  into  nineteen  provinces — ten  in  France,  Algiers,  and  the 
colonies,  and  the  other  nine  in  Belgium,  Prussia,  Switzerland,  Savoy,  Pied- 
mont, the  United  States,  Canada,  the  Levant,  and  Malaysia.  England  will 
Boon  be  organized  as  a  province.  In  these  provinces  there  are  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  establishments,  one  thousand  three  liundred  and  fifty-three 
schools,  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  classes,  and  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  pupils.  The  United  States  form  a  part  of  tho 
province  of  Canada,  the  central  house  being  at  Montreal.  The  first  estab- 
lishment in  the  United  States  was  that  at  Baltimore  in  1846.  Two  years 
after.  New  York  also  possessed  these  Brothers,  in  consequence  of  the  efforts 
and  sacrifices  of  the  worthy  Father  Annet  Lafont,  pastor  of  the  French 
church  in  that  city.  At  the  present  time  the  Christian  Brothers  have  schools 
in  the  dioceses  of  Baltimore,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Albany,  St.  Louis,  New 
Orleans,  and  Detroit. 


I   ? 


148 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


!:■  » 


ill!'  >\ 


:   j. 


;;i!i 


I!)! 


Baltimore  *  In  the  city  of  Baltimore  the  churches  of  St.  Alphon- 
sus,  St.  Vincent,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Peter,  St.  Michael,  and  the  new 
Lazarist  church,  the  Carmelite  and  Visitation  chapels,  were 
erected  during  the  episcopacy  of  Archbishop  Eccleston.  In  the 
interior  of  the  diocese,  ten  churches  were  also  built  by  his  care, 
while  the  number  of  ecclesiastics  was  almost  doubled,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  establishment  of  the  Redemptorists  and  Lazarists, 
with  whom  the  prelate's  zeal  succeeded  in  gifting  Maryland. 

The  Priests  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer  exercised  their  minis- 
try principally  among  the  German  population,  who  form  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  Catholic  body  in  the  United  States. 
During  the  period  from  1840  to  1850,  the  emigration  to  the 
United  States  was  composed  annually  of  about  two  hundred 
thousand  Irish  and  eighty  thousand  German  immigrants.  For 
some  time  the  respective  numbers  of  the  two  nations  have 
changed.  More  liberal  laws,  emigration  to  Australia,  and  the 
fear  of  a  religious  persecution  in  the  United  States,  have  sensibly 
checked  the  movement  which  bore  the  Irish  to  this  country ; 
while  the  consequences  of  insurrection  in  Germany  in  1848,  and 
the  impoverishment  of  the  countiy  brought  on  by  these  troubles, 
have  drawn  to  the  United  States  the  Germanic  population.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1854,  the  number  of  Germans  landed  in  the  United 
States  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  and  that 
of  the  Irish  sank  to  one  hundred  and  one  thousand.  Among 
these  Germans,  about  a  fourth  or  a  fifth  are  Catholics  from  Ba- 
varia, Saxony,  Baden,  the  Rhine  Provinces,  and  Wirtemburg. 

*  The  Brotliers  of  St.  Patrick  were  founded  in  1808,  in  the  county  Carlow 
in  Ireland,  by  tlie  Veiy  Rev.  Dr.  Delany,  to  secure  a  Christian  education  to 
the  yung.  Tliis  society  acquired  some  extension  in  Ireland,  and  in  1848  it 
had  three  houses.  At  tlie  request  of  the  Rev.  James  Dolan,  three  Brothers 
of  this  society  came  to  Baltimore  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and  there  assumed  the 
direction  of  the  school  attached  to  St.  Patrick's.  They  opened  a  novitiate, 
and  took  care  of  the  model  farm,  established  soon  after  at  Govestown  to 
teach  the  orpliaus  farming.  In  1853,  however,  the  Brothers  left  the  diocese, 
while  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  have  extended  remarkably. 


*'  :l  ' 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


149 


3f  St.  Alphon- 
and  the  new 
chapels,   were 
sston.     In  the 
It  by  his  care, 
bled,  in  conse- 
and  Lazarists, 
Slaryland. 
,ed  their  minis- 
o  form  a  con- 
United  States, 
igration  to  the 
t,  two  hundred 
migrants.    For 
»   nations  have 
straha,  and  the 
5,  have  sensibly 
)  this  country; 
ly  in  1848,  and 
f  these  troubles, 
opulation.     Ac- 
d  in  the  United 
usand,  and  that 
isand.     Among 
,olics  from  Ba- 
,d  Wirtemburg. 

the  county  Carlow 
stian  edvication  to 
and,  and  in  1848  it 
Ian,  three  Brothers 
there  assumed  the 
opened  a  novitiate, 
r  at  Govestown  to 
ers  left  the  diocese, 
d  remarkably. 


As  may  be  imagined,  episcopal  solicitude  was  early  turned  to  the 
spiritual  wants  of  so  many  good  people ;  yet  until  1840  they  had 
been  but  poorly  provided  for  in  this  respect.  The  American 
clergy  did  not  understand  the  language  of  these  new-comers,  and 
they  themselves  felt  little  inclined  to  visit  churches  where  the 
English  instruction  was  unintelligible  to  them.  In  some  dioceses 
in  the  West,  German  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  attended  a 
certain  number  of  parishes.  Other  churches  Avere  formed  under 
the  pastoral  chnrge  of  German  secular  priests ;  but  these  came 
from  their  dioceses  without  mission,  and  did  not  always  possess 
the  high  character  due  to  their  calling,  and  often  expirienced  in- 
surmountable diificulties  in  governing  their  flocks.  The  laity, 
imbued  with  C  '— regational  ideas,  incessantly  endeavored  to 
usurp  the  temp.-::  .dministration,  deliberate  on  the  choice  of 
their  pastors,  elect  their  priest  or  dismiss  him  at  will,  and  the 
rights  of  the  bishops  were  of  no  avail  against  this  sectarian  obsti- 
nacy. More  than  one  church  was  scarcely  built  when  it  was  in- 
terdicted by  the  diocesan  authority. 

The  establishment  of  the  Redemptorists  in  the  United  States, 
due  to  the  negotiations  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  has  effected  a 
most  consoling  change  in  this  state  of  things.  The  pious  sons  of 
St.  Alphonsus  Liguori  have  very  flourishing  provinces  in  Ger- 
many. In  1841  a  colony  from  the  province  of  Austria  was 
installed  at  Baltimore.  It  has  since  then  received  successively 
new  reinforcements,  and  is  now  a  distinct  province,  containing 
upwards  of  sixty  Fathers,  scattered  in  residences  over  seven  dio- 
ceses— New  York,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  New  Or- 
leans, Detroit,  Buffalo,  and  Rochester.  Success  has  generally 
crowned  the  efforts  of  their  apostolical  zeal.  The  German  Cath- 
olics are  no  longer  the  object  of  isolated  efforts.  A  powerful 
organization  now  devotes  itself  to  their  spiritual  succor,  and  the 
Redemptorists  have  had  the  talent  of  bending  these  diflicult 
minds  to  an  obedience  any  thing  but  Calvinistic.     If  the  Germans 


I  1- 


1 


m  i 


150 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


have  lost  what  some  would  call  independence  of  reason,  they 
have  gained  in  devotion,  which  is  clear  profit,  for  piety  ill  accords 
with  those  stuhlt..  n  wills  which  oppose  their  bishop  as  well  as 
their  pastor.  The  German  parishes  are  now  distinguished  for 
their  regularity.  The  celebration  of  the  ofiices  of  the  Church  is 
even  performed  with  a  pomp  that  contrasts  singularly  with  the 
simplicity  of  worship  in  the  Irish  and  American  churches.  The 
Catholics  of  Ireland  and  England,  so  long  deprived  of  the  public 
exercise  of  their  religion,  often  able  to  hear  only  Low  Mass  in 
secret,  know  not  how  to  mingle  their  voices  with  the  chants  of 
the  Church.  The  generations  which  have  grown  up  since  the  act 
of  emancipation  in  England  or  the  revolution  in  the  United 
States,  do  not  know  the  advantage  of  religious  melodies ;  the 
chill  of  Protestantism  seems  to  have  settled  on  the  brow  of  Cath- 
olics living  amid  the  Babel  of  sectaries,  and  the  traveller  who 
visits  the  Catholic  churches  in  Englan'^.,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
the  United  States,  is  struck  by  the  absence  of  the  Gregorian  rites. 
A  choir  of  females  grouped  a-^ound  the  organ  alone  undertakes  to 
execute,  as  best  it  may,  some  Mass  of  modern  composition,  in  the 
presence  of  a  mute  auditory,  mdifferent  to  these  accents.  The 
Germans,  on  the  contrary,  musical  by  nature,  mingle  their  sono- 
rous voices  with  the  consecrated  chant  of  the  ritual ;  the  whole 
people,  blending  with  the  prayers  of  the  clergy,  improvise  choral 
Masses  of  the  finest  efiect ;  and  the  renown  of  their  ceremonial 
attracts  to  their  churches  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New 
York  numbers  of  the  curious,  who  always  leave  thei    ^dified. 

The  Redemptorists  do  not  confine  their  ministry  to  the  Ger- 
mans. They  give  missions  and  preach  in  many  parishes,  and 
these  exercises  revive  piety  in  the  breasts  of  the  faithful.  Their 
novitiates  have  received  many  converted  Protestant  ministers  or 
ecclesiastics,  who  have  become  exemplary  priests,  and  whose  elo- 
quent words  exercise  a  notable  influence  on  their  former  co-re- 
liglonists.    Their  Provincial  resides  at  the  convent  in  Baltimore. 


lii' 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


151 


[  reason,  they 
lety  ill  accords 
lop  as  well  as 
tinguislied  for 
the  Church  is 
ilavly  with  the 
hui'ches.     The 
I  of  the  public 
r  Low  Mass  in 
the  chants  of 
ip  since  the  act 
iu  the  United 
melodies ;  the 
brow  of  Cath- 
3  traveller  who 
id,  Ireland,  and 
jrregorian  rites, 
e  undertakes  to 
position,  in  the 
accents.     The 
fjle  their  sono- 
ual ;  the  whole 
oprovise  choral 
leir  ceremonial 
phia,  and  New 

dified. 
y  to  the  Ger- 
parishes,  and 
'aithful.  Their 
it  ministers  or 
and  whose  elo- 
former  co-re- 
it  in  Baltimore. 


ei 


The  novitiate  is  at  Annapolis,  in  a  house  of  Charles  Carroll  of 
CarroUlon,  generously  given  to  the  Redemptorists  by  the  grand- 
daughters of  that  patriarch  of  independence,  the  last  of  the 
signers,  and  cousin  of  the  fiist  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  The 
Order  which  had  previously  failed  to  obtain  a  permanent  footing 
iu  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  was  thus  secured. 

The  pious  Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission,  or  La^a- 
rists,  was  also  invited  to  Maryland  by  Archbishop  Eccleston,  and 
now  direct  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emmitsburg  according  to  the 
rules  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  it  was  not  till  1850  that  three 
Lazarists  from  Missouri  came  to  the  diocese  of  Baltimore ;  but  the 
congregation  had  existed  from  1817  in  Upper  Louisiana,  now 
Missouri.  When  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans  was  conse- 
crated in  1815  at  Rome,  he  obtained  some  Lazarists  of  the  Roman 
province  for  his  diocese.  The  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis  was  the 
Superior  of  the  little  company  which  set  out  for  America,  and  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  subsequently  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  succeeded 
as  Superior  on  his  death.  In  a  letter  from  Mr.  Rosati  to  the 
Abbe  Brute,  dated  from  St.  Mary's  Seminary  at  the  Barrens, 
January  29,  1822,  we  read:  "On  our  arrival  at  Baltimore  from 
Europe  we  were  only  four  of  our  congregation,  three  priests  and 

*  The  Society  of  Missionaries  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer  was  founded  in 
1732,  by  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  with  the  appro- 
bation of  Pope  Clement  XII.  The  rule  was  promulgated  June  21st,  1742. 
The  cong^regation  has  since  extended  widely,  and  out  of  Italy  embraces  the 
provinces  of  Austria,  Belgi  m,  Germany,  the  United  States,  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Holland.  Till  lately  the  Kcctor-major  resided  at  Nocera,  near 
Naples.  The  Vica'*-ironeral  who  administered  the  transalpine  provinces  had 
some  duties  of  subordination  to  the  Kector-major.  But  by  a  decree  of  the 
Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Kegulars  of  October  8th,  1854,  the  following 
dispositions  were  made : 

1st.  A  house  of  the  Order,  ns  it  exists  out  of  Italy,  shall  bo  established  at 
Rome.  2d.  The  Superior-general  shall  reside  at  Rome.  3d.  The  General 
Chapter  of  the  Order  shall  meet  at  Rome. 

St.  Alphonsus  was  canonized  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  in  1889. 

The  present  Provincial  of  the  Redemptorists  in  the  United  States  is  Father 
Hafkcnscheid. 


I'  :!i 


II ' 


;? 


m 


i:  it^ 


MM 


15?. 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


a  brother.  AVe  arc  now  nineteen — ten  priests,  three  clerics,  and 
six  brothers.  Our  gentlemen  iu  Italy  take  a  great  interest  in 
us,  r*nd  send  us  some  subjects,  and  others  have  joined  us  in 
America." 

The  province  of  Italy  continues  to  assist  the  missions  of  the 
United  States,  and  many  of  the  Lazarists  in  the  dioceses  of  St. 
Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  Baltimore  are  Italians.  This  congrega- 
tion has  given  the  American  Church  several  prelates — Bishop 
Rosati,  already  named,  and  also  Bishops  De  Neckere,  Odin,  and 
Timon,  They  direct  the  Seminary  of  New  Orleans  and  one  of 
those  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis ;  and  by  becoming  the  directors 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emmitsburg  they  extend  their  influ- 
ence over  all  parts  of  America.* 

During  the  term  of  his  episcopate,  Archbishop  Eccleston  was 
called  upon  to  preside  over  five  of  the  Provincial  Councils  of  Bal- 
timore, and  he  discharged  his  important  duties  with  equal  wisdom 
and  dignity,  exercising  the  most  cordial  hospitality  towards  his 
brother  prelates.  His  suffragans  accordingly  resolved  to  show 
their  gratitude  by  offering  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  in  their 
collective  name,  the  rich  vestments  and  plate  of  an  episcopal 
chapel. 

The  third  Provincial  Council  met  at  Baltimore  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1837,  and  eight  bishops  there  sat  around  their  metropoli- 

*  The  Congregation  of  Priests  of  the  Mission  was  founded  by  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  and  approved  successively  by  Joiin  Francis  de  C  jndi,  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  April  26th,  1626;  by  a  bull  of  Pope  Urban  Vlil.,  January,  1632; 
and  by  letters  patent  of  Louis  XHL,  May,  1642.  In  the  last-mentioned  yeai, 
the  Priests  of  the  Mission  founded  a  house  at  Eomo,  and  since  then  a  prov- 
ince of  the  Congregation  has  had  its  seat  at  Rome.  The  main  end  of  these 
priests  is  to  labor  for  their  own  perfection,  to  devote  themselves  to  the  sal- 
vation of  poor  country  people  by  means  of  missions,  and  to  exert  themselves 
for  the  spiritual  advancement  of  ecclesiastics.  In  1632  they  took  possession 
of  the  establishment  of  St.  Lazarus  at  Paris,  an  old  priory  of  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  of  St.  Lazarus  of  Jerusalem.  Although  the  Priests  of  the  Mis- 
sion were  dispossessed  of  their  house  of  St.  Lazarus  in  1792,  they  continuo 
to  be  generally  known  by  the  name  of  Lazarists. 


* 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


153 


clerics,  and 
t  interest  in 
joined   us  in 

3sion3  of  the 
:jceses  of  St. 
lis  congrega- 
ates — Bishop 
re,  Odin,  and 
5  and  one  of 
the  directors 
d  their  iuflu- 

Sccleston  was 
uncils  of  Bal- 
equal  wisdom 
r  towards  his 
ved  to  show 
lore,  in  their 
an  episcopal 

the  16th  of 
[ir  metropoli- 

|by  St.  Vincent 
li,  Archbishop 
lanuary,  1632 ; 
lentioned  yeai, 
Ic  then  a  prov- 
In  end  of  these 
Ives  to  the  aal- 

art  themaelvea 
J)ok  possession 
if  the  Kniglita 
Vs  of  the  Mis- 

Ithcy  continue 


:f 


tan.     At  tl.o  first  private  session,  the  following  letter  horn  the 
Bishop  of  Detroit  was  submitted : 

"  Most  Revehend  Fathers 

"  In  Provincial  Synod  at  Baltimore  assembled  : 

"  It  is  known  tliat  I  reluctantly  accepted  the  episcopal  consecra- 
tion, and  I  soon  learned  by  experience  that  the  erection  and  ad- 
ministrsti^  i  of  a  nev/  diocese,  with  its  numberless  difficulties  and 
cares  springing  up  on  every  side,  were  a  burden  far  too  great  for 
me  to  bear,  and  I  have  accordingly  frequently  entertained  the  in- 
tention of  resigning  my  diocese  into  the  hands  of  Ills  Holiness 
the  Sovereign  Pontift',  or  at  lea^fc  of  soliciting  a  capable  coadjutor 
from  the  Holy  See.  This  i'.tention  I  desire  to  carry  out  by  these 
presents,  and  for  this  purpose  I  have  empowered  my  two  actual 
Vicars-general,  Rev.  Messrs.  Badin  and  De  Bruyn,  to  exercise 
joint  jurisdiction  in  my  absence,  until  further  arrangements  are 
made. 

"  Such  is  the  matter  which  I  deem  proper  to  lay  before  you, 
Most  Reverend  Fathers,  and  I  beg  you  to  excuse  mo  "''  I  cannot 
take  part  in  this  Council,  and  also  to  aid  me  to  obtain  the  suc- 
cessful realization  of  my  desires,  if  it  shall  seem  good  in  our  Lord. 

"  f  Frederick  Rfesfe,  Bishop  of  Detroit. 
"St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  April  15,  1837." 

Afte-'  deliberating  on  this  letter,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  re- 
solved to  a  the  Holy  Father  to  accept  Bishop  Rese's  resigna- 
tion, and  to  appoint  a  successor  to  his  See.  The  Propaganda, 
however,  by  a  letter  dated  September  2d,  1837,  intimated  that  in 
this  matter  His  Hdiness  deferred  a  decision  as  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  resignation  and  the  appointment  of  a  successor,  until  Bishop 
Rese  had  been  heard  in  person.  That  prelate  accordingly  went 
to  Rome,  and  by  a  letter  dated  December  19th,  1840,  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Propaganda  announced  that  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Odin 

7* 


i  r*f1fi 

■r.p 

1          " 

t          ' 

1          • 

i 

i. 

R' 


f! 


r-.  i 


fell! 


Mi 


]       ! 


154: 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


had  bcjn  appointed  Bishop  Administrator  of  Detroit,  Bishop 
I*  jz6's  resignation  being  ccepted.  Mr.  Odin  did  not  accept  the 
functions,  and  at  last,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1841,  the  lit. 
Kev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevre*  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Tela,  Coad- 
jutor and  Administrator  of  Detroit.  Bishop  Roze  resided  at 
Rome  till  the  revolution  of  1840,  on  which  he  retired,  we  be- 
lieve, to  Germany,  his  native  country. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council  in  183*7  proposed  to  the  Holy  8eo 
the  erection  of  new  dioceses — at  Nashville  foi  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, at  Natchez  for  the  State  of  Mississippi,  at  Dubuque  for 
the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  at  Pittsburg  for  the  western  part 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, by  letter  of  September  2,  1837,  transmitted  the  Pontifical 
briefs,  of  the  date  of  July  28th,  founding  three  new  dioceses,  and 
appointing  to  the  See  of  Natchez,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden  ;  to 
that  of  Dubuque,  the  Rev.  Matthew  Loras ;  and  to  that  of  Nash- 
ville, the  Rev.  Richard  Miles.  Tix"^  division  of  the  diocese  of 
Philadelphia,  by  the  erection  of  a  See  at  Pittsburg,  was  deferred, 
and  a  coadjutor  was  given  to  Bishop  Dubois  of  New  York,  in  the 
person  of  Rev.  John  Hughes,  then  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  church, 
Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden  refused  the  episcopal 
dignity,  and  it  was  not  till  the  month  of  December,  1840,  that  in 
consequence  of  his  declining  it,  the  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche  was 
called  to  the  See  of  Natchez.f 

On  the   17th  of  May,   1840,  the  fourth  Provincial  Council 

*  Kt.  Eev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevre  was  bom  on  the  30th  of  April,  1804,  at 
Eouler,  West  Flanders. 

t  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden,  a  native  of  this  country,  ordained  at  Baltimore 
in  182,1,  is  now  Vicar-general  of  Pittsburg,  and  resides  at  Bedford,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Rt.  Rev.  Matthew  Loras  was  born  at  Lyons,  on  the  30th  of  August,  1794, 
and  came  to  America  in  1829  with  Bishop  Portier.  At  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion he  was  Vicar-general  of  Mobile,  and  was  consecrated  at  Mobile  on  the 
10th  of  December,  1837,  by  Bishop  Portier,  assisted  by  Bishop  Blanc. 

Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Pius  Milea  was  born  in  Maryland,  May  17,  1791,  and  was 


I 


^1 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


155 


roit,  Bishop 
t  accept  the 
341,  the  Kt. 
■  Tela,  Coacl- 
3  resided  at 
tired,  we  be- 

ho  Holy  See 
itate  of  Tt'ii- 
Dubuque  for 
western  part 
•f  the  Propa- 
:he  rontifical 
dioceses,  and 
Heyden;  to 
hat  of  Nash- 
e  diocese  of 
was  deferred, 
Ycirk,  in  the 
iry's  church, 
he  episcopal 
1840,  that  in 
ihanche  was 

Icial  Council 

ipril,  1804,  at 

at  Baltimore 
|ford,  Pennsyl- 

1  Auj?ust,  1794, 

le  of  his  elec- 

iMobile  on  the 

Bhmc. 

17ai,  and  was 


opened  at  Baltimore.  Thirteen  bishops  were  present,  and  among 
them  the  pious  Bishop  of  Nancy,  Monseigneur  do  Forbin-Janson. 
At  a  preparatory  meeting,  held  on  the  14th  of  May,  the  Ame  i- 
can  prelates  had  unanimously  resolved  to  invite  their  French 
brother  to  assist  at  th<Mr  sessions  with  a  deliberative  and  decisive 
vote,  and  thus  acknowledged  the  services  rendered  to  religion  in 
the  United  States  by  the  ardent  zeal  of  Bishop  Forbin-Janson. 
The  missions  which  he  gave  in  various  dioceses  produced  the 
most  abundant  fruits.  His  eloquence  and  liberality  founded  a 
French  church  iu  New  York,  and  Canada  still  remembers  the 
wonders  of  his  evangelical  charity  and  the  touching  ^  ^remony  of 
planting  a  cross  a  hundred  feet  high  on  the  mountain  of  Beloeil, 
whence  the  august  sign  of  salvation  casta  its  protecting  shadow 
over  the  surrounding  fields  and  villages.  America  is  also  in- 
debted to  him  for  the  organization  of  ecclesiastical  retreats,  and 
never  indeed  will  the  name  of  the  holy  prelate  cease  to  be  men- 
tioned with  reverence.* 


Provincial  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic  prior  to  his  consecration,  which  took 
place  at  Bardstown,  September  16,  1838. 

Rt.  Eev.  John  Joseph  Chanche  was  born  at  Baltimore,  on  the  4th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1795,  of  French  parents,  refugees  from  St.  Domingo;  was  ordained, 
in  1819,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of  St.  Su'pico.  He  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Natchez,  at  Baltimore,  on  the  11th  of  March,  1841,  and 
died  July  22,  1852. 

*  Charles  Augustus  M.nry  Joseph  de  Forbin-Janson,  born  at  Paris  in  1785, 
was  admitted  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  as  an  auditor  in  the  Council  of  State, 
but  soon  abandoning  this  career,  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice, 
and  was  ordained  at  Chambory  in  1811.  He  remained  in  Savoy  till  the  rea- 
toration ;  returning  then  to  France,  he  devoted  himself,  with  Mr.  Rauzan, 
to  the  establishment  of  missions.  He  preached  with  admirable  zeal  through- 
out France,  founded  the  house  of  missionaries  of  Mt.  Valerien,  made  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  Land,  and  eflfected  many  conversions  in  the  East, 
especially  at  Smj-rna.  'Appointed  Bishop  of  Nancy,  ho  was  prevented  by 
political  intrigues  from  accomplishing  all  the  good  he  meditated  for  his  dio- 
cese, and  at  last,  to  his  regret,  was  compelled  to  leave  it.  His  voyage  to  the 
United  States  occurred  in  1839,  and  he  there  effected  immense  good  by  his 
missions  in  Louisiana,  New  York,  and  Canada.  Returning  to  France  in 
1842,  his  last  years  were  consecrated  to  founding  the  admirable  Society  of 


1 

1 

i 

i 

1 

'     ;:::      ir 


!  m 


I  I    'i'''^'U 


1  Pill  I 


n    1 


156 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  Council  of  Bultitnore,  honored  by  the  pr^aence  of  a  noble 
confessor  of  the  faith,  could  not  but  fool  a  deep  sympathy  in  other 
confessors,  whose  devotedness  to  the  cJutholic  faith  was  then  re- 
warded by  a  dungeon.  The  American  bishops  addressed  a  warm 
letter  of  felicitation  and  encourngement  to  ( 'hiiido  Augustus  de 
.Droste  do  Vischering,  Bishop  of  Cologne,  and  to  Martin  de  Dun- 
nin,  Archbishop  of  Posen,  thus  showing  that  the  lieart  of  the 
Church  everywhere  throbs  with  the  sanif^  life,  and  that  the  trials 
of  religion  in  Europe  are  felt  even  in  the  New  World. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council,  by  their  fifth  decree,  very  earnestly 
recommended  the  formation  of  temperance  societies  among  the 
Catholics ;  and  in  fact  abstiuen.ce  from  spirituous  liquors  is  the 
only  means  of  preserving  the  people  from  the  dangers  of  intoxica- 
tion, by  sheltering  them  from  the  misery  and  vice  which  are  the 
consequences  of  this  degrading  vice.  It  is  the  besetting  sin  of 
the  Iiish  laborer,  and  it  is  only  when  his  conscience  is  bound  by 
an  oath  of  honor,  and  he  belongs  to  an  association  consecrated 
by  religion,  that  he  has  power  to  resist  the  ]»oisonous  attrac- 
tions of  liquor.  The  celebrated  Father  Theobald  Mathew  did  not 
confine  his  labors  to  Ireland.  In  1849  he  came  to  America,  and 
spent  two  years  and  a  half  constantly  preaching  temperance  and 
enrolling  thousands  of  the  faithful  under  the  banner  of  sobriety. 
Canada  had  already  felt  the  advantage  of  such  an  association, 
and  Father  Chiniquy,  the  Apostle  of  Temperance,  effected  in  his 
native  province  wonders  equal  to  those  of  Father  Mathew  in  Ire- 
land. 

The  Council  carefully  examined  the  petition  of  the  Catholic 
inhabitants  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  for  a  bishop ;  but  the  place  di** 


the  Holy  Childhood,  for  the  salvation  of  Chinese  infants.    Ho  died  at  Pro^/ 
ence,  July  12,  1844.    See  notice  on  Monseigneur  de  Forbin-Janson  in  th* 
first  number  of  the  Annals  of  the  Holy  Childhood,  January,  1846.    Elog» 
Funebre  de  Monseigneur  de  Forbin-Janson,  par  Lacordalre.    Conferen- 
ces, i.  455. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


157 


c  of  IV  noble 
athy  in  other 
was  then  ro- 
essed  a  warm 

Avigustus  de 
irtin  de  Dun- 
heart  of  the 
hat  tlio  trials 
d. 

rery  earnestly 
s  among  the 
iquors  is  the 
rs  of  intoxica- 
vhich  are  tlie 
netting  sin  of 
e  is  bound  by 
\  consecrated 
\onou8  attrac- 
rithew  did  not 
merica,  and 

perance  and 
of  sobriety, 
association, 

ffected  in  his 

lathew  in  Ire- 

Ithe  Catholic 
Ithe  place  di^ 


died  at  Prov 
l-Jonson  in  th* 
/,  1846.    ElogP 
iro.    Conferen- 


not  RtHMu  l()  them  suflicicntly  important  to  bo  created  tho  centre 
of  a  diocese.  From  the  same  motives,  the  American  prelates 
were  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  well  to  transfer  to  Louisville  the 
See  of  liardstown,  as  the  latter  town  remuined  stationary,  whilo 
the  former,  situated  on  tho  Ohio,  in  a  very  advantageous  position 
for  trade,  beheld  \U  population  rapidly  incrmsing.  The  Pontifi- 
cal rescript  authorizing  this  translation  was  received  by  Bishop 
Flaget  early  in  1841,  and  the  venerable  prelate,  though  not  with- 
out lively  regret,  left  the  cradle  of  religion  in  Kentucky. 

The  Congregation  of  the  I'ropaganda,  by  letter  of  December 
19th,  1840,  made  known  that  the  diocese  of  Richmond,  compris- 
ing the  State  of  Virginia,  would  cease  in  future  to  be  adminis- 
tered by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore;  and  that  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  had  appointed  the  Rev.  Richard  V.  Whelan  to  that  See. 
This  clergyman,  a  native  of  Maryland,  had  for  several  years 
evangelized  the  ungrateful  mission  of  Virginia,  and  we  may  here 
say  a  few  words  of  the  humble  beginnings  of  Catholicity  in  the 
Old  Dominion. 

In  1584  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  sent  out  from  England,  at  his  own 
expense,  an  expedition  which  took  nominal  possession  of  cei'tain 
parts  of  the  American  coast ;  and  on  the  return  of  the  vessels, 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself  g.ave  her  new  possessions  the  name  of 
Virginia,  in  honor  of  her  title  of  Virgin  Queen,  which  it  is  certain 
she  claimed,  but  not  certain  that  she  deserved.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, till  1606  that  a  colonization  society  was  formed  to  settle 
Virginia,  and  Captain  Jolni  Smith,  with  a  royal  charter  from 
James  I.,  landed  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  colonists  in  May, 
1607.*  Anglicanism  thus  planted  itself  on  that  shore,  and  every 
new-comer  who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  royal  supremacy  was 
expelled,  while  most  severe  laws  threatened  with  death  the  priest, 
and  especially  the  Jesuit,  hardy  enough  to  appear  in  Virginia. 

*  Hildroth,  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  99-185. 


loS 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


.  :'!"'! 


.;!;!;■  ^ 


l;v  ij  iii 


>!  i     I 


I  i     !i| 


'*;L'I 


Tho  hour  for  heaving  the  cross  thillior  had  not  fttnick,  and  tho 
tli'Ht  inittsionarit's  who  appeared  wuro  tlio  prisoiiorH  of  l'rote.staiit- 
isin.  Tti  1014  two  Froiich  Jesuits,  Father  Peter  Biard  and 
Father  Fiiiiioin(»n(l  Masse,  liaving  founded  St.  Saviour's  mission  <>ii 
the  north'  ii  coast,  in  what  is  now  the  Stato  of  Maine,  Caplaiii 
Argal  of  Virginia  destroyed  it  out  of  mere  hatred  of  (JathoHcity. 
A  Jesuit  brother  was  killed,  and  the  two  Fathers  were  taken  Jo 
Virginia,  where  tlie  governor.  Sir  Thonjas  Dale,  for  some  tinio 
deliberated  on  tlio  propriety  of  consigning  them  to  the  execu- 
tioner to  bo  hanged,  drawn,  and  (juartered. 

Irish  emigrnnts  who  subse(]uently  arrived  were  forced  to  leave, 
and  settled  at  Montserrat  iu  the  West  Indies,  long  known  an  .in 
Irish  colony.  Sir  George  Calvert  even  was  excluded  from  Vir- 
ginia on  account  of  his  faith,  and  for  that  reason  founded  his 
colony  of  Maryland. 

When  the  Protestants  wliom  ho  had  admitted  rose  in  1045 
against  their  Catholic  fellow-settlers,  they  seized  all  the  priests 
and  dragged  them  in  chains  to  Virginia,  where  one  of  them  ex- 
pired the  following  year.  Such  were  the  first  relations  of  Vir- 
ginia with  Catholicity  and  its  missionaries;  but  amid  their 
IKjraecutions,  the  pious  Fathers  doubtless  sought  to  extend  around 
them  the  succors  of  religion,  for  some  Catholics  were  even  then 
t«)  bo  found  in  Virginia,  chiefly  as  slaves  or  indented  apprentices — 
Iiish  men  and  women,  torn  from  their  native  land  and  sold  into 
foreign  bondage. 

After  the  Irish  struggle  in  1641,  and  the  Protestant  triumph 
which  ensued,  the  Irish  Catholics  were  relentlessly  banished,  and 
the  State  documents  of  Cromwell's  time  enable  us  to  reckon  from 
fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  forcibly  transported  to 
America.  Tho  majority  were  given  to  the  settlers  in  Barbadoes 
and  Jamaica,  but  a  gi'eat  number  of  women  and  children  were 
also  sold  in  Virginia,  the  men  having  been  pressed  into  the  Pro- 
tector's nav)'.     In  1652  the  Commissaries  of  the  Commonwealth 


'■'11=/!; 


IN  TIIK    UMTED   8TATKS. 


159 


c,  and  tho 
'rotestant- 
Vmrd  und 
mission  on 
(.',  Ciiptuiii 
!atliolicily. 
!  takou  to 
tonio  tinio 
ho  oxecu- 

d  to  leave, 

)\vn  an  an 

from  Vir- 

)uniled  liin 

io  in  \Oiii 
[lie  priests 
them  ex- 
is  of  Vir- 
mid  their 
nd  around 
even  then 
ronticos — 
sold  into 

-  triumph 
shed,  and 
con  from 
ported  to 
^arbadoes 
ren  were 
the  Pro- 
onwealth 


ordered  "  Irish  \V(»men  to  bo  nold  to  merchants  and  sliippod  to 
Vir^nia,"  and  these  unfortunate  females,  reduced  to  tho  samo 
(•ondition  of  slavery  as  African  negroes,  sank  in  great  nimiben* 
under  the  labors  imposed  upon  them  by  their  nuistcrs.  At  u 
later  date  another  chiss  of  Irish  increased  the  laboring  population 
in  Virginia — voluntary  emigrants,  driven  from  homo  by  poverty, 
and  too  poor  to  pay  their  passage.  These  bound  themselves  by 
contract  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  in  order  to  pay  th.  vessel. 
They  were  called  Redemptioners. 

Tho  laws  of  tho  colony  oppressed  them  sorely,  and  doul-tless 
compelled  many  to  leave  as  soon  as  they  were  free.  Thus  in 
January,  1041,  it  was  onactod  that  no  Popish  rocunant  shoidd, 
under  a  penalty  of  a  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,  presume  to  hold 
any  office.  In  the  following  year  the  same  statute  was  ro-onacted, 
and  a  clause  added  requiring  priests  to  leave  the  colony  on  five 
days'  notice.  After  this  the  penal  spiiit  seemed  lulled  till  tho 
restoration  of  Charles;  then,  in  1601,  all  who  did  not  attend  tho 
Protestant  Church  were  made  subject  to  a  fine  of  £20.  The  fall 
of  James  II.  again  called  up  intolerance  in  all  its  rancor.  In 
1690  Virginia  decreed  that  no  Popish  recusant  should  be  allowed 
to  vote,  and  six  years  later  re-enacted  the  law,  making  five  hun- 
dred pounds  of  tobacco  the  penalty  for  oftending  against  it.  Even 
this,  however,  did  not  satiate  tho  spirit  of  hatred  with  -i^'bich  the 
minds  of  men  were  imbued.  They  had  oppressed  the  .':  Lholics; 
this  was  not  enough.  They  sought  means  to  degrade  and  insult 
them,  and  devised  a  plan  which  rated  them  socially  with  their  ne- 
gro slaves.  By  an  act,  unparalleled  in  legislation,  Virginia  in 
1 705  declared  Cathohos  incomp>^tent  as  witnesses — their  testimony 
could  not  be  taken  in  court.  It  may  be  supposed  that  this  was 
the  act  of  a  moment  of  frenzy  :  this  can  hardly  be,  for  nearly  half 
a  century  later  it  was  re-enacted,  and  to  prevent  any  doubt,  the 
words  "in  any  case  whatever"  were  added.  Thus,  men  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  actually  voted  for  the 


hU 


I 


■■  I 


i! 


i   ! 


If 


I  ll 


J 


HI 


160 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


most  pvoscriptive  of  laws.  The  year  1*750,  just  twenty  years  be- 
fore the  close  of  British  rule,  marks  the  last  of  the  penal  acts,  and 
it  is  by  far  the  most  comprehensive.  By  its  terms  the  ofih  was 
to  be  tendered  to  Papists ;  they  were  not  to  keep  arms  under  a 
penalty  of  three  months  imprisonment,  the  forfeiture  of  t'  e  arms, 
and  thrice  their  value.  The  inforner  was  to  have  as  his  reward 
the  value  of  the  arms ;  and  any  Virginian  high-minded  enough 
not  to  inform  against  his  Catholic  neighbor,  incurred  the  same 
penalties  as  the  latter.  By  the  same  law  no  Catholic  was  per- 
mitted to  own  a  horse  worth  over  £5  ;  and  if  he  did,  and  kept  it 
concealed,  he  was  liable  to  three  months  imprisonment  and  a  fine 
of  thrice  its  value.*  Thus,  in  colonial  times,  a  Catholic,  in  the 
native  State  of  Washington,  could  not  hold  any  office,  nor  vole, 
nor  keep  arms,  nor  own  a  horse,  nor  even  be  a  witness  in  any 
cause,  civil  or  criminal.  Priests  were  subjected  to  the  penalties 
of  the  English  law.  For  more  than  a  century  the  Catholics  thus 
scattered  among  the  Virginia  plantations  were  deprived  of  reli- 
gious succor,  and  faith  died  out  among  them,  or  at  least  disap- 
peared after  the  first  generation.f 

Meanwhile  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  Maryland  visited  with  great 
zeal  the  parts  of  Virginia  least  remote  from  their  pro\nnce,  and 
one  of  the  most  ardent  in  this  laborious  mission  was  Father  John 
Carroll,  the  illustrious  founder  of  the  episcopal  hierarchy  in  the 
United  States.  When  he  resided  at  Rock  Creek  in  Maryland,  in 
17  7  4,  he  visited  once  a  month  the  little  congregation  of  A^uia 


*  See  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  i.  268  (1641) ;  ii.  48  (1661) ;  iii.  172 
(1699) ;  id.  238,  299  (1705) ;  vi.  388  (1758) ;  vii.  37  (1756).  All  these  horri- 
ble enactments  were  abolished  in  October,  1776 ;  id.  ix.  164,  Eeligious 
freedom  was  established  only  in  1784  (id.  xii.  84) — a  large  party,  supported 
by  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry,  being  in  favor  of  an  established  church. 
Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  884. 

+  Some  doubtless  emigrated,  when  able,  to  Maryland  or  other  parts,  so  as 
to  bo  within  reach  of  a  priest ;  and  in  the  Life  of  Father  Jogues  we  find  an 
Irishman  from  Virginia  going  to  confesiiiou  to  that  holy  martyr,  when,  at 
New  York  in  1043. 


Ill; 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


161 


Creek,  in  Virginia,  sixty  miles  from  his  residence.  His  two  eldest 
sisters  had  settled  at  Aquia,  having  married  two  Catholics  named 
Brent,  who  had  maintained  their  faith  amid  every  peril,  and 
drawn  other  Catholics  around  them.  This  was  probably  the  first 
organized  parish  in  Virginia,  and  the  name  of  Carroll,  so  eminent 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  Maryland,  has  thus  a  new  title  to 
the  veneration  of  the  faithful. 

About  the  same  time  Father  George  Hunter,  an  Englishman,  left 
his  residence  of  St.  Thomas  Manor,  to  cross  the  Potomac,  and  se- 
cretly in  disguise  celebrate  the  holy  mysteries  in  some  Virginian 
cabin.  Father  James  Frambach  was  appointea  to  take  charge  of 
the  Catholics  around  Harper's  Feriy ;  and  one  day  the  mission- 
ary having  been  discovered  by  some  Protestants,  owed  his  life 
only  to  the  fleetness  of  his  horse,  which  swam  the  Potomac  amid 
a  shower  of  balls,  which  the  fanatical  Virginians  discharged  on 
the  fugitive  Jesuit.* 

Soon  after,  however,  the  Rev.  John  Dubois,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  New  York,  landed  at  Norfolk  in  July,  1791,  with  letters  of 
recommendation  from  Lafayette  to  the  Randolplis,  Lees,  and 
Beverlys,  to  James  Monroe  and  Patrick  Henry.  Thus  introduced 
to  the  leading  men  of  Virginia,  he  proceeded  to  Richmond,  and 
for  want  of  a  chapel,  said  Mass  for  the  few  Catholics  of  the  place 
in  the  capitol,  which  was  kindly  placed  at  his  disposal. 

Teaching  for  his  support,  Mr.  Dubois  labored  here  for  several 
years,  and  effected  the  conversion  of  Governor  Lee.  Even  after 
his  removal  to  Frederick,  he  extended  his  regular  missionary 
visits  to  Martinsburg,  Winchester,  and  indeed  to  all  Western 
Virginia.f 

The  Rev.  Dennis  Cahill  also  about  this  time  labored  in  the 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  171. 

+  Catholic  Expositor,  1843,  p.  91.  Diaeourae  on  the  Kt.  Rev.  John  Du- 
bois, D.  D.,  by  the  Eev.  John  McCaffrey.  Letter  to  the  Leader  by  a  "  Moun- 
taineer of  1823." 


n 


l! 

ii 


Hi,,'! 


1 ' ". 


111!; 


jfliri 


162 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Eoigliborliood  of  Miutinsburg,  and  was  the  instrument  of  receiving 
into  the  Church  a  family  who  were  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  true  faith  in  a  mode  so  extraordinary  that  we  cannot  avoid 
some  account  of  it. 

About  1779  a  Lutheran  of  German  origin,  Livingston  by  name, 
removed  witli  his  family  to  a  place  in  Jefferson  county,  about  fif- 
teen miles  from  Middleway,  still  called  Wizard's  CHp.  Soon  after 
this  his  house  was  haunted  by  a  strange  visitant,  that  burnt  his 
barns,  killed  his  cattle,  broke  his  furniture,  and  cut  his  clothing  all 
to  pieces  in  a  most  curious  and  remarkable  manner.  He  naturally 
sought  means  to  rid  himself  of  this  annoyance,  and  not  a  few  vol- 
unteered to  deliver  the  house.  The  first  who  came,  however, 
were  soon  put  to  flight  by  the  conduct  of  a  stone,  which  danced 
out  from  the  hearth  and  whirled  around  for  some  time,  to  their 
great  dismay.  A  book  of  common-prayer,  used  by  another  party 
in  conjuring  it,  was  unceremoniously  thrust  into  a  place  of  con- 
tempt. Others  tried  with  as  little  success ;  but  at  last  Livingston 
had  a  dream,  in  which  he  saw  a  Catholic  church,  and  heard  a 
voice  telling  him  that  the  priest  was  the  man  who  would  reJeve 
him.  His  wife  then  persuaded  him  to  send  for  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Cahill,  who  seemed  rather  unwilling  to  go,  but  at  last  yielded, 
and  spiinkled  the  house  with  holy  water,  upon  which  the  noise 
and  annoyance  ceased. 

Livingston  soon  after  visited  a  Catholic  church  at  Shepherds- 
town,  and  recognizing  in  the  officiating  priest  the  person  whom 
he  saw  in  his  dream,  believed  and  resolved  to  become  a  Catholic. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Cahill  subsequently  said  Mass  at  his  house,  but 
Mr.  Livingston  and  his  family  were  instructed  by  a  voice  which 
explained  at  length  the  sacraments  of  Penance  and  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist, prayed  with  them,  and  frequently  exhorted  them  to 
prayer  and  penitential  works.  These  facts  were  notorious,  and 
the  family  were  known  to  be  almost  ignorant  of  English  and 
without  Catholic  books.    The  Rev.  Mr.  Cahill,  Prince  Gallitziu, 


■*4#i!'- 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


163 


and  his  tutor,  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Brozius,  Father  Pclleutz,  and  Bishop 
Carroll  all  investigated  these  occurrences,  which  were  renewed 
during  seventeen  years,  accompanied  even  hy  apparitions,  and  all 
considered  them  really  supernatural,  generally  ascribing  them  to 
a  suftering  soul  in  purgatory. 

So  completely  did  Mr.  Livingston  disregard  the  loss  of  hia 
temporal  goods  in  consideration  of  the  precious  boon  of  faith 
which  had  been  bestowed  upon  him,  that  like  the  merchant  who, 
seeking  good  pearls  and  finding  one  precious  one,  sold  all  he 
possessed  to  acquire  it,  he  would  have  given  all  to  obtain  it ;  and 
to  show  his  gratitude  to  Ahnighty  God,  gave  a  lot  of  ground  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Church. 

The  conversions  did  not  sease  with  his  own  family ;  many  of 
the  neighbors  were  also  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  faith, 
and  in  one  winter  no  less  than  fourteen  were  converted.  The 
Catholics  were  by  the  same  means  maintained  in  a  more  strict 
observance  of  the  duties  which  religion  enjoins,  and  warned  of 
the  least  neglect. 

Strange  as  these  incidents  may  seem  to  many,  no  facts  are 
better  substantiated,  and  a  full  account  was  drawn  up  by  the 
Rev.  Demetrius  A.  Gallitzin,  who  in  1797  went  from  Conewago 
to  Livingston's,  and  spent  three  months  in  examining  into  the 
circumstances.  "  My  view  in  coming  to  Virginia,"  says  he,  "  and 
remaining  there  three  months,  was  to  investigate  those  extraordi- 
nary facts  of  which  J  had  heard  so  much,  and  which  I  could  not 
prevail  upon  myself  to  believe ;  but  I  was  soon  converted  to  a 
full  behef  of  them.  No  lawyer  in  a  court  of  justice  ever  did 
examine  or  cross-examine  witnesses  more  strictly  than  I  did  all 
the  witnesses  I  could  procure.  I  spent  several  days  in  penning 
down  the  whole  account."*     The  very  name  of  Cliptown,  pre- 


*  See  Letters  of  Prince  Gallitzin  iu  the  St.  Louis  Leader  for  Dec.  1,  1855. 
See  also  his  work  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  p.  151. 


■v. 


■i 


f; 


I  V  1 


:«\   .'        I 


f 


I' 


164: 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


served  to  tliis  day,  is  a  proof  of  the  facts  which  gave  rise  to  the 


name 


* 


Bishop  Carroll  was  always  alive  to  the  wants  of  this  early  field 
of  his  labors,  and  as  religion  began  to  be  free  in  Virginia,  em- 
ployed one  or  two  priests  exclusively  on  the  mission  in  that  State ; 
but  they  often  met  severe  trials,  and  in  1816  Rev.  James  Lucas,  a 
French  ecclesiastic,  was  sent  to  Norfolk  to  restore  the  j)eace  of 
the  Church,  troubled  by  the  revolt  of  the  trustees,  who,  having 
the  church  property  in  their  hands,  had  called  in  a  bad  priest  to 
officiate.  Mr.  Lucas  hired  a  room,  which  he  transformed  into  a 
chapel.  By  his  prudent  firmness  he  soon  drew  around  him  the 
Catholics,  who  left  the  interdicted  church ;  and  the  trustees,  left 
to  themselves,  at  last  returned  to  the  path  of  duty.f 

When  the  Sovereign  Ir'ontifl'  erected  the  See  of  Charleston,  in 
1820,  for  South  Carolina,  he  at  the  same  time  founded  that  of 
Richmond  for  Virginia,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  was  ap- 
pointed, as  we  have  stated  in  a  previous  chapter ;  but  the  prelate 
never  went  to  Richmond,  where  he  would  not  have  found  means 
of  subsistence,  so  few  and  so  poor  were  the  Catholics  then. 
Bishop  Kelly  remained  at  Norfolk,  and  had  to  open  a  school  to 
support  himself.  A  year  after,  he  Avas  transferred  to  the  See  of 
W^aterford,  in  Ireland,  and  the  administration  of  the  diocese  of 
Richmond  was  confided  to  the  Archbishop  of  Biiitimore.  In 
1829,  Archbishop  Whitfield  visited  Richmond  and  Norfolk,  and 


*  Most  of  the  above  detaila  are  derived  from  a  narrative  preserved  in  the 
family  of  a  Catholic  neighbor  of  Livingston,  and  witnosaea  to  the  whole 
tr;;uSMOtion. 

t  I'he  Bev.  James  Lncas  was  born  at  Rennes,  in  1788,  and  had  aa  his  pro- 
fcL  jor  in  theology,  Simon  Briitt^,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Vincennes.  Ordained 
in  1812,  ho  came  to  the  United  States  in  1815,  and  was  almost  immediately 
sent  to  Norfolk.  Mr.  Lucas  left  that  place  on  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Kelly, 
and  after  he'iug  pastor  of  St.  Peter's,  Washington,  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Ho  died  at  Froderick,  on  the  litli  of  I'eb'-uary,  1847,  leaving  the 
reputation  of  a  priest  full  of  zeal  and  piety,  an  untiring  missionary,  an  elo- 
quent preacher,  and  a  learned  theologian.    Catholic  Almanac,  1848,  p.  262. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


166 


13  pro- 
ained 
lately 
Kelly, 
ety  of 
\g  the 
n  elo- 
262. 


1  ^ 


in  a  letter,  dated  January  28,  1830,^''  gnros  an  account  of  his 
journey  through  Virginia.  Only  four  priests  then  resided  in  that 
State,  which  was  unable  to  support  more.  At  Richmond,  amid 
the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  city,  the  Catholics  had  only  an 
humble  wooden  chapel.  At  Norfolk,  where  the  church  was  more 
decent,  the  prelate  confirmed  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  per- 
sons, and  learned  that  the  faithful  numbered  over  six  hundred. 
In  his  letter  of  September  16th,  1832,  Archbishop  Whitfield  an- 
nounces that  he  had  sent  to  Virginia  a  zealous  missionary. 
"  This  priest  has  traversed  the  State ;  he  has  everywhere  found 
the  Protestants  ready  to  hear  him;  they  offered  him  their 
churches,  town-balls,  and  other  public  buildings,  inviting  him  to 
preach  there,  and  this  is  not  surprising.  The  mass  of  the  people, 
divided  into  almost  countless  sects,  now  knows  not  what  to  be- 
lieve ;  and  by  dint  of  wishing  to  judge  for  themselves,  end  by  no 
longer  having  any  idea  what  to  believe  of  the  contradictory  doc- 
trines taught  them ;  the  rich  become  atheists,  deists,  philosophei's. 
How  unhappy  it  is  to  be  unable  to  send  missionanes  into  this 
State,  which  is  as  large  as  England  !  There  is  no  doubt  that  if 
we  had  laborers  and  means,  prodigies  would  be  eflfected  in  that 
vast  and  uncultivated  field."f 

This  progress,  though  slow,  was  real;  and  in  1838  Archbishop 
Eccleston  was  able  to  announce  that  there  were  nine  thousand 
Catholics  in  the  State,  and  that  they  possessed  eight  churches. 
It  was  stjll  a  very  feeble  religi*  us  establishment ;  but  no  more  is 
needed  in  America  to  begin  a  diocese,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
bulls  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Vincent  Whelan, 
born  at  Baltimore  on  the  28th  of  January,  1809,  was  c->nsecrated 
in  his  native  city  Bishop  of  Richmond  on  the  21st  of  March,  1841. 
The  new  prelate  made  gieat  sacrifices  to  open  a  diocesan  semi- 
nary ;  and  the  commencement  seemed  to  justify  his  hopes.     On 


*  Annalcs  dc  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  245. 


+  Idem,  V.  721. 


!!"" 


!i!l 


1  1 


m 


iii 


166 


THE  CATHOLIC  CUUKCH 


the  1st  of  January,  184n,  he  conferred  minor  orders  at  Richmond, 
and  the  following  year  six  pious  young  men  received  the  tonsuro 
at  his  hands.  IJut  in  spite  of  the  services  rendered  to  the  diocese 
by  this  seminary,  the  expense  was  too  groat  for  the  prelate  s  feebio 
resources,  and  in  1846  Bishop  Whe'nn  resolved  to  close  It,  and 
send  the  young  leviteo,  destined  to  the  priesthood,  'o  Ireland  or 
Baltimoi'<\  Before  his  consecration  the  Bishop  of  Richmond  had 
installed  three  Sisters  of  Chanty,  from.  Emmitsburg,  iu  his  pansh 
of  Martin.sb'i rg.  He  soon  confi  led  to  them  an  orphan  as\luii'(  ai. 
Richmond  and  a  school  ot  Norfolk;  this  last  city  especial iy  eon- 
soled  him,  and  he  sev  ■  il  times  visited  it  to  confirm  new  converts 
to  the  faith.  Richraoncl  did  rot,  however,  oflfer  the  same  re- 
sources, and  in  iB-10  Bishoj.  Whelau  resolved  to  fix  his  residence 
at  Wheeling,  wiiero  t)ie  O-vtholic  population  was  becoming  more 
important.  The  great  distance  of  the  two  cities  from  each  other 
made  it,  however,  desirable  that  Richmond  should  not  be  de- 
prived of  the  presence  of  r.  bishop.  The  Fathers  of  the  seventh 
C  iincii  of  Baltimoie  accordingly,  in  1849,  asked  that  Virginia 
should  be  divided  into  two  dioceses.  The  lioly  See  consented, 
and  by  ;t  bull  of  July  23,  1850,  transferred  Bishop  Whelan  to  the 
See  of  \\  Ueehngj  as  he  had  wished,  and  called  the  Rev.  John 
McGill  to  the  See  of  Richmond,  which,  now  comprised  all  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  State.  This  prelate  is  a  native  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  acquired  a  reputation  for  science  and  eloquence  at 
Louisville,  v^here  he  was  long  pastor,  and  where  be  published 
several  controversial  and  theological  works.  At  the  present  time 
(1855)  the  diocese  of  Richmond  contains  eleven  churches,  ten 
ecclesiastics,  and  a  population  of  about  nine  thousand  Catholics. 
Wheel) n-  was  so  called  after  a  Catholio  prie.ft  of  the  name  of 
Whelan,  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  ofliciated  in  Wes 
ern  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  fiud  who  having  by  baptism  re 
lieved  a  child  whom  all  regari'>  as  possessed,  the  father  i'  '• 
child  gave  the  name  of  Whe'        o  the  town.     Catholic.';    hiU 


I 

•  i 


}« 


i  i 

•J 
!  I 


m 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


107 


climop  ], 
1  tonsDto 
?  diocef-o 
as  fecbio 
e  'd,  and 
liltind  or 
'ond  had 
is  palish 
iyima  ai. 
aiiy  con- 
converts 
same  ro- 
'esidence 
iifj  m(»re 
ich  other 
t  be  d(i- 
seventh 
Virginia 
>nsented, 
m  to  the 
V.  John 
all  tiie 
f  Phila- 
ence  at 
iblished 
nt  time 
jhes,  ten 
tholics. 
ame  of 
We3 
ism  rc- 

■  hai 


not,  however,  advanced  very  rapidly  in  this  section  of  the  country ; 
and  at  the  present  time  the  diocese  of  Wheeling  contains  twelve 
churches,  ten  priests,  and  seven  thousand  Catholics.  In  1848, 
eight  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  from  Maryland  opened  a  convent 
and  boarding-school  at  Wheeling,  and  in  1853  a  hospital  was 
founded  there  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  from  St.  Louis,  whose 
institute  was  originally  founded  at  Puy,  in  1650. 

The  faith,  it  is  evident,  is  still  weak  in  Virginia,  a  State  in 
which,  according  to  the  census  of  1850,  there  was  a  population 
of  one  million  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  inhabitants, 
five  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  of  whom  are  colored. 
This  is  because  the  Irish  emigration  turns  away  from  a  country 
where  slavery  renders  free  labor  of  no  advantage  to  the  mechanic 
or  laborer  ;  while  we  see  in  the  sequel  of  our  sketch  how  Catho- 
licity develops  itself  in  the  North  and  West.  Virginia  will  be 
still  for  a  considerable  time  one  of  the  least  favored  States  in  the 
Union  in  Catholic  institutions ;  but,  thanks  to  the  wonders  of  in- 
dustry and  of  modern  science,  the  few  priests  of  Richmond  and 
Wheeling  suffice  to  impart  religious  succor  to  the  faithful  scat- 
tered over  the  vast  surface  of  the  State.  Little  reflection  is  given, 
as  far  as  we  know,  to  the  services  which  the  electric  telegraph 
and  railroads  render  to  religion  ;  and  yet  these  services  are  quite 
real  in  all  the  extent  of  America.  If  a  sick  man  be  in  danger  of 
deatk,  his  relatives  hasten  to  t^ond  a  dispatch  to  the  nearest  priest, 
who  is  often  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  miles  from  them.  He 
in  turn  takes  the  first  train  to  go  to  the  dying  who  calls  for  the 
consolation  of  the  faith,  and  the  poor  can  be  counted  by  thou- 
sands who  would  l^e  otherwise  deprived  of  the  last  sacraments, 
but  for  the  precis  c.  resouiocs  of  the  magnetic  telegraph.  Thus 
the  gieatest  \jniuses  are  unwiiungly  the  instruments  of  Provi- 
dence, and  ;  rofessor  Morse  hardly  supposea,  when  meditating  on 
the  utility  of  his  telegraph,  that  in  a  host  of  circumstances  he 
pla  .,id  confession  within  the  reach  of  the  dying 


tr, 


ts   ■ 


¥''  ^  ; 


T'i  ! 


M 


ill!; 


■Hi 


16S 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


But  we  cannot  close  this  brief  notice  of  Cutliolicity  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Richmond  without  alhiding  to  the  labors  and  services  of 
some  of  the  more  eminent  clergymen  who  have  toiled  in  extend- 
ing Catholicity  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and  whom  we  have  not  yet 
had  occasion  to  name.  From  1829  to  1836,  though  the  cholera 
twice  ravaged  his  extended  parish  and  thrice  prostrated  him,  the 
Rev.  .John  B.  Gildea  labored  with  the  most  commendable  zeal  and 
beneficial  results  in  Martinsburg,  Harper's  Ferry,  and  other  places, 
completing  two  churches  and  erecting  one  other.  Zealous,  espe- 
cially for  the  diffusion  of  a  knowledge  of  our  doctrines,  he  did  all 
in  his  power  to  disseminate  short  popular  explanations,  and  subse- 
quently was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Catholic  Tract  Society. 

But  the  most  illustnous  of  the  Virginian  clergy  was  the  Rev. 
Francis  Devlin,  a  martyr  of  charity  during  the  yellow  fever  which 
made  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  a  desert  in  1855.  Mr.  Devlin  had 
just  been  assailed  by  a  slanderer  in  the  public  papers,  and  Catho- 
licity, in  the  persons  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  had  been  assailed 
by  a  romantic  girl  and  her  crafty  advisers.  An  example  was 
needed  of  what  Caiaolicity  was  in  the  hour  of  trial.  Mr.  Devlin 
refuted  the  slanders  of  the  enemies  of  truth  by  his  faithful  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  a  good  shepherd,  who,  when  the  hireling 
tiieth  because  he  is  a  hireling,  remains  and  lays  down  his  life  for 
his  flock.  From  the  first  moment  of  the  appearance  of  the  epi- 
demic, he  was  unwearied  in  his  exertions,  bearing  alike  temporal 
and  spiritual  succor  to  the  poor.  By  his  appeals  he  stimulated 
the  charity  of  Catholics  in  other  parts,  and  drew  several  Jesuit 
Fathers  from  Georgetown  to  aid  him.  Night  and  day  he  was 
beside  the  sick,  especially  the  poorest  and  most  deserted.  When 
no  other  was  there  to  relieve  them,  he  performed  all  the  duties  of 
a  nurse,  arranging  their  beds,  bringing  from  his  dwelling  soups 
and  drinks  which  he  had  made.  At  length  he  was  himself 
stricken  down,  but  though  timely  aid  broke  the  fever,  he  could 
not  bear  to  lie  on  bis  couch  whi^o  others  were  dying ;  before  he 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


169 


the  dio- 
vices  of 
extend- 
not  yet 
cholera 
bim,  the 
zeal  and 
r  places, 
us,  espe- 
e  did  all 
id  subse- 
:;iety. 
;he  Rev. 
er  which 
jvlin  had 
d  Catho- 
assailed 
iple  was 
Devlin 
hful  dis- 
lireling 
life  for 
le  epi- 
einporal 
raulated 
Jesuit 
he  was 
When 
uties  of 
soups 
himself 
e  could 
)fore  be 


had  recovered  he  was  again  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  and  laid 
down  his  life  on  the  9th  of  October,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age. 
In  the  same  month  the  rights  of  the  confessional  were  brought 
before  tho  tribunals  of  Virginia,  as  they  had  nearly  fifty  years 
previous'/  before  those  of  New  York,  and  with  a  like  result.  A 
man  nwmed  John  Croniu,  impelled  by  jealousy,  gave  his  wife  a 
deadb  wound.  The  Very  Kev.  John  Teeling,  a  Catholic  clergy- 
I  man  i«f  Richmond,  who  attended  her  on  her  death-bed,  was  called 

I  j"  as  a  «fitne8s  on  the  trial  before  the  Superior  Court,  and  asked  the 

;  I  sub/jeance  of  her  sacramental  confession  to  him.    This  he  modestly 

ibut  firmly  declined.     "  Any  statement,  made  in  her  sacramental 
confession,  whether  inculpatory  or  exculpatory  of  the  prisoner,  I 
•;  I  ;im  not  at  liberty  to  reveal."     The  question  was  again  and  again 

>  put  in  various  forms,  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Teeling  refused  as  before, 

and  at  last,  in  a  short  address,  explained  to  the  Court  his  motives 
and  the  obligation  of  secrecy  which  the  Church  i-^iposes  on  con- 
fessors. His  statement  was  listened  to  with  the  utmost  attention, 
and  made  an  evident  impression  on  all  present.  T  he  question  then 
came  up  whether  a  proper  foundation  had  been  laia  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  woman's  declaration  in  confession  as  a  dying  decla- 
ration. Judge  John  A.  Meredith,  who  presided,  decided  in  the 
negative  ;  but  as  the  question  had  been  raised,  gave  his  opinion  on 
the  admissibility  of  the  confession,  and  decided  against  it.  "  I 
regard,"  says  the  Judge,  "  any  infringement  upon  the  tenets  of  any 
denomination  as  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  law,  which  guaran- 
tees perfect  freedom  to  all  classes  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion. 
To  encroach  upon  the  confessional,  which  is  well  understood  to 
be  regarded  as  a  fundamental  tenet  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
would  be  to  ignore  the  Bill  of  Rights,  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to 
that  Church.  In  vie^"  of  these  circum  mces,  as  well  as  of  other 
considerations  coc  '  .1  with  the  subject,  I  feel  no  hesitmion  in 
ruling  that  a  priest  (.  joys  <,  privilege  of  exemption  from  revealing 
vviiai  is  communicated  to  \\\m  in  the  confessional." 

8 


•;*.'■ 


i 

^  ii  ' 

, 

1 

1 

' 

i 

170 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


!'■  iffl 


CHAPTER  XII 

DIOCESE    OF    BALTIMOUE (1840-1S46). 

Decrees  as  to  eoclc  :  Jttcsl  property— Fifth  Council  of  Baltimore — Decrees  afcalnst  di- 
vorce and  mixed  •  'riuges — Subdivision  of  the  dioceses — Sixth  Council  of  Baltimore 
—Decree  as  to  ih';  iinmaciilato  Conception- Labora  uf  the  Society  of  Jesus  ia  the 
United  Statos. 

One  of  the  most  important  decrees  of  the  fourth  Council  of 
Baltimore  bore  upon  church  property,  and  laid  down  rules  for  its 
preservation.  The  question  of  the  possession  and  administration 
of  the  churches  is  ono  of  unequalled  gravity.  It  has  subjected 
religion  in  the  United  States,  since  the  emancipation  of  the  Cath- 
olics, to  inni'merable  trials ;  it  has  produced  periodical  schisms — 
fortunately,  however,  only  local  and  partial,  but  not  pacified  with- 
out great  scandal;  it  has  given  the  bigoted  majorities  in  the 
State  governments  a  pretext  for  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Church,  and  is  an  imminent  cause  of  serious  forebodings  for  the 
future. 

From  the  fundamental  principle  of  absolute  liberty  of  worship 
and  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  it  would  seem  that  the 
Catholic  religion,  should  be  invested  with  the  right  of  administer- 
ing and  possessing  property  according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the 
sacred  canons.  Protestant  tolerance  has  m  ver,  .lowever,  gone  so 
far  as  to  grant  the  Church  this  essenti'  .  anc'ise;  and  at  all 
times  civil  laws  have  fettered  the  free  deveiopraeri:  of  the  faith  or 
multiplied  the  seeds  of  revolt  in  the  bosoin  of  Catholic  bodies. 
The  prof  ^ss  of  religion,  watched  with  a  jealous  eye,  has  made 
them  take  back  with  one  hand  what  they  proffered  with  the 
other ;  and  the  pretendad  equality  which  they  professed  to  estab- 


I  against  dl- 
r  UaltimoTc 
Fesus  la  the 


ouncil  of 

les  for  its 

nistration 

subjected 

the  Cath- 

chisms — 

ed  with- 

s  in  the 

Irs  of  the 

s  for  the 

worship 
[that  the 
Iminister- 
Is  of  the 
gone  so 
Id  at  all 
faith  or 
bodies. 
ks  made 
^ith  the 
estab- 


IN  THE  UKITED  STATES. 


171 


Hsli  in  the  oyo  of  the  law  between  Catholicity  and  other  religious 
denominations  is  itself  a  danger,  because  it  tends  to  Protestantize 
the  Church  by  putting  it  into  the  congn^gationaiist  IuukIs  of  thu 
laity. 

For  libiM'ty  of  worship  to  be  in  all  points  a  reality,  the  Church 
must  be  considered  as  a  civil  person  for  the  possession  of  the 
property  which  it  owes.to  the  cliarity  of  the  faithful  and  of  the 
necessary  edifices  for  the  accoinplishmcnt  of  its  ceremonies.  It 
would  bo  necessary  that  the  security  of  its  title  should  not  be  in- 
A'alidated  or  compromised  by  the  death  of  an  individual,  or  by  an 
error  of  form  in  a  deed  or  will.  This  result  would  be  obtained  if 
the  bishop,  the  supreme  authority  in  the  diocese,  were  incorpo- 
I'ated  as  bishop  with  the  right  of  transmitting  to  his  successors 
the  goods  of  the  Church ;  or  else,  if  the  body  of  the  clergy,  pre- 
si'led  over  by  the  bishop,  formed  this  civil  person  ;  or,  lastly,  if 
e:>  '  pastor  became  ex-offi,cio  invested  with  the  nominal  property 
of  the  church  which  he  serves — a  property  which  belongs  in 
reahty  to  the  faithful  for  whoso  religious  wants  it  has  been  built. 
For  seventy  y  irs  the  bishops  of  the  United  States  have  sought, 
with  a  perseverance  undaunted  by  defeat,  to  obtain  these  guaran- 
tees from  the  justice  of  each  State ;  for  these  questions  fall  within 
the  cognizance  of  the  several  State  Legislatures.  They  hnve, 
however,  generally  failed,  and  Catholics  are  invariably  sent  bad' 
to  the  common  law,  and  accused  of  the  high  crime  of  not  being 
satisfied  with  what  is  good  enoujjh  for  Protestants. 

Now  this  common  law,  that  all  property  set  apart  for  worship 
be  possessed  and  administered  by  a  Bt)ard  of  Trustees,  appointed 
by  a  general  election  of  the  lay  members  of  the  creed,  and  re- 
newed by  the  same  process  by  general  election — this  system, 
essentially  Congregationalist,  may  suit  the  thousand  sects  of  Pro- 
testantism, where  the  people,  the  grand  depositaries  of  dogma  and 
doctrine,  should  also  hold  the  deposit  of  the  church  buildings ; 
but  it  is  repugnant  to  the  very  organization  of  Catholicity,  where 


H 


!: 


1^ 


If 


r! 

[If 

Hi 


172 


TIIK  CATHOLIC  OliritCII 


tho  liead  governs  llui  inombcrM  iiiHU'iul  of  Ix-iiiggovertn'il  by  thorn. 
Yut,  in  tho  HiHt  forty  yours  of  this  century,  th(!  American  hio- 
rarehy  (juite  fixxjUently  acee]»te(l  tlijn  fulso  position,  and  many 
ehurclies  were  incorporated  under  the  name  of  a  Board  of  Tnis- 
tees.  lUit  the  hiy  administration  has,  for  the  most  part,  prcxhiced 
oidy  trouble  and  scandal.  The  trustees,  instead  of  remaining  in 
their  K'gal  sphere,  invaded  the  spiritual  domain ;  they  wished  to 
assume  a  deliberative  voice  in  the  election  of  tho  piustor,  and  even 
of  the  bishop ;  they  have,  moreover,  in  many  cases,  compromised 
the  honor  and  sanctity  of  religion  by  personal  speculations,  Ity 
unreasonable  debts  and  shameful  baidtruptcies.  After  desperate 
struggles  and  prolonged  schisms — after  end)arrassments  whiiih 
Imve  shortened  by  grief  tho  livea  of  several  bishops — after  tho  ox- 
communication  of  several  13oard«  of  Trustees  and  the  interdiction 
of  their  churches,  the  bishops  were  at  last  compelled  to  remove 
religion  in  future  from  the  perils  of  this  system,  and  the  only 
means  of  escaping  it  has  been  to  take  in  their  own  name  the  title 
of  the  religious  property  of  the  diocese.  As  to  churches  or  con- 
vents belonging  to  European  or  American  religious  orders,  tho 
title  remains  in  the  local  Superior,  and  is  transferred  by  him  to 
his  successor  in  authority. 

This  system,  imposed  upon  the  bishops  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances, is  not  exempt  from  danger.  Without  assuming  tho 
doubtless  impossible  case  of  a  prelate  appropriating  to  his  own 
use  property  devoted  to  the  exercise  of  worship,  it  may  happen 
that  a  bishop  should  die  without  making  a  will,  or  what  is  tanta- 
mount, a  \  did  will,  or  a  legal  heir  lay  claim  to  property,  the 
special  nature  of  which  is  nowise  guaranteed  by  law.  To  remedy 
these  grave  difficulties  and  this  precarious  situation,  the  Sacred 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  interpreting  and  developing  the 
eighth  decree  of  the  fourth  Council  of  Baltimore,  issued  the  de- 
cree of  December  16th,  1840,  on  the  preservation  of  chui'ch 
property. 


i 


n 


IN  TIIK    UNITED  STATES. 


173 


It  i»  tliero  laid  down  that  tlio  duty  of  ovory  arolihiMliop  and 
bi«ln)p  rcquiroa  him  to  picparo  a  will  in  tlio  U^gal  form  rcijuiit'cl 
iu  the  State  in  wliicii  they  resich',  and  thorehy  to  luMpicath  all 
the  property  of  the  chnreh  to  one  of  the  hi.siiops  of  tlus  provinci!, 
naming  a  second  episcopal  legatee  in  case  of  the  death  or  default 
of  the  first.  These  wills  should  ho  executed  iu  duplicate,  one  of 
which  is  to  be  kept  in  the  archives  of  tlio  diocese,  tho  other  sisnt 
to  tho  archbishop.  It  is  tho  duty  of  the  metropolitan  to  see  that 
these  instruments  are  drawn  up  in  the  least  litigious  terms,  in- 
vested witii  all  legal  formalities;  and  ho  shall  also  receive  all  tho 
■wills  made  by  the  superiors  of  religious  comnmnities,  advising  tho 
testator  of  such  corrections  as  for  greater  security  it  may  seem  to 
him  proper  to  suggest  in  these  important  instruments.  On  tho 
death  of  a  bishop  tho  devisee  put  in  possession  shall  send  tho 
vicar-gcneral  of  the  deceased  a  power  of  attorney  to  administer ; 
and  on  the  canonical  election  of  a  new  bishop,  the  latter  shall  re- 
ceive a  transfer  in  his  own  name  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  property 
possessed  by  his  predecessor.  The  decree  required  also,  that  if, 
within  three  months,  each  bishop  did  not  deposit  his  will  in  tho 
liands  of  his  metropolitan,  it  should  bo  referred  to  the  Holy  Con- 
gregation of  the  Propaganda.  "  But  in  the  fifth  Council  of  Balti- 
more the  American  prelates  asked  tho  Holy  See  to  mitigate  the 
rigor  of  this  clause,  and  it  was  deemed  less  indispensable,  as  every 
bishop  was  better  aware  of  the  wisdom  of  the  regulation.* 

Establishments  of  education,  colleges,  universities,  and  board- 
ing-schools for  young  ladies  are,  in  the  United  States,  under  a 
legislation  quite  different  from  that  of  churches,  and  are  thus 
saved  from  the  danger's  which  threaten  the  latter.  The  States 
generally,  without  much  difficulty,  incorporate  these  liouses,  and 
the  property  is  then  possessed  by  the  faculty,  composed  of  the 
president  and  principal  officers  of  the  college  or  institution,  and 

*  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  liabita,  pp.  172,  198,  210. 


i 


I 


,  f 


)[ 


IN 


!i!^ 


li!  i- 


H 
. '1 

il  i 


•11 

'rii 


'!■ 


'i'l 


It 


174 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sometimes  of  friends,  who  are  from  time  to  time  elected  as  tnis- 
tees.  Many  colleges,  directed  by  the  Jesuits  and  other  orders  or 
societies,  are  thus  held.  The  Legislatm'e  of  Massachusetts  has, 
however,  pertinaciously  refused  to  incorporate  the  Jesuit  college 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  at  Worcester,  although  it  fulfils  every  condi- 
tion required ;  and  that  State,  the  cradle  of  Puritanism  in 
America,  the  actual  centre  of  infidelity  and  arianism,  is  distin- 
guished now,  as  in  1620,  by  fanaticism  and  intolerance. 

The  prudence  of  the  bishops  and  of  the  Holy  See  having  re- 
moved or  banished  the  fatal  ferment  which  Protestantism  so 
adroitly  endeavored  to  infuse  into  the  discipline  of  the  Church, 
the  enemies  of  religion  sought  new  modes  to  attain  their  end ; 
Catholics  are  incessantly  stimulated  by  the  countless  voice  of  the 
press,  the  pulpit,  and  the  platform,  to  revolt  against  their  pastors. 
The  amount  of  property  held  by  the  bishops  is  estimated ;  and 
on  one  side  designing  men  endeavor  to  alarm  Protestants  at  the 
immense  power  which  monojjolizing  prelates — mastere  of  the  soil 
and  slaves  of  Rome — acquire,  so  that,  in  their  eyes,  it  will  be  the 
Pope  who  will  control  vast  domains  in  free  America !  On  tlie 
other  hand,  they  pretend  to  commiserate  the  hard  lot  of  Catho- 
lics, who  submit  to  a  thousand  piivations  in  order  to  build 
ohurches,  and  are  then  subject  to  see  the  houses  of  their  worship 
enriching  the  heirs  of  their  bishops.  These  perfidious  insinua- 
tions, repeated  usgtie  ad  nauseam,  exercise  little  influence  on  the 
majority  of  the  faithful.  Within  the  last  few  years  most  Boards 
of  Trustees  have  voluntarily  dissolved  and  asked  to  transfer  their 
title  of  the  churches  to  the  bishops;  those  who  still  act  have,  in 
general,  lost  the  congregationalist  spirit  which  formei'ly  animated 
ti.^m,  and  keep  pretty  exactly  within  their  legitimate  sphere  ot 
d .  „/  and  rights.  Except  at  St,  Louis  Church,  in  Buflalo,  no  schism, 
w>i  believe,  has  afflicted  the  Church  in  1855.  The  Catholics, 
better  instructed  than  formerly,  have  lost  much  of  their  propen- 
sity to  revolt,  and,  advancing  in  piety,  have  gained  confidence  in 


il  : 


t,  ' 


IN"   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


175 


lated 
re  ot 

lisin, 
olics. 


I 


tliL'ir  pastors  and  veneration  for  tlieir  cliaracter.  But  the  Pro- 
testant portion  of  the  people  have  raised  the  cry  of  alarm ;  they 
have  beheld  themselves  inundated  by  a  torrent  of  Romanism^ 
handed  over  to  the  Pope,  the  Inquisition,  the  Jesuits ;  and  the 
rallying  cry  of  American  Free  Masonry,  known  as  Know-Nothing- 
ism,  is  the  restoration  of  Trusteeisin  as  a  means  of  destroying 
Catholicity.  The  Legislature  of  New  York  has  already  (1855) 
passed  a  law  declaring  that  no  devise,  bequest,  or  donation  for  re- 
ligious purposes  shall  be  valid  unless  made  to  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, and  authorizing  the  State  authorities  to  seize  the  property 
if  the  congregation  will  not  elect  trustees.  The  Pennsylvania 
Legislature  also  introduced  a  law  menacinfj  Catholic  church 
property,  and  these  preliminary  steps  are  only  the  mutterings  of 
the  tempest  which  threatens  the  Church. 

The  fifth  Council  of  Baltimore  met  on  the  lith  of  May,  1843. 
Sixteen  bishops  took  pp.rt  in  the  deliberations,  and  one  of  the 
most  important  decrees  is  that  which  pronounces  the  penalty  of 
excommunication  ipso  facto  against  those  who,  after  obtaining  a 
civil  divorce,  pretend  to  contract  a  second  marriage.  So  tolerant 
is  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  of  such  unions,  that  it  is 
indispensable  to  warn  Catholics  by  the  severest  threats.  K  the 
Church  has  for  eighteen  centuries  done  so  much  to  sanctify  mar- 
riage and  destroy  polygamy.  Protestantism  has  for  three  hundred 
years  labored  in  the  opposite  direction  to  loosen  the  conjugal  tie ; 
and  where  its  errors  predominate  it  has,  unfortunately,  succeeded 
but  too  well.  In  the  very  outset  of  the  pretended  reformation, 
Luther  authorized  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  to  take  two  wives ; 
and  bigamy  under  another  name  exists  in  iVmerica,  where  many 
marry  again  immediately  after  getting  a  divorce.  These  legal 
dissolutions  of  marriage  are  becoming  more  and  more  frequent; 
and  from  statistical  calculations,  based  on  newspapers  and  pe- 
riodicals, we  ascei'tain  approximately  that  in  the  L^nited  States, 
out  of  a  population  of  twenty-four  millions,  ten  thousand  marriages 


3  t 


\.'] 


ilil'i- 


176 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


are  annually  set  aside,  so  that  every  year  twenty  thousand  indi- 
viduals obtain  the  right  of  living  in  legal  adultery.  This  is  not 
all.  While  divorce  is  thus  authorized  by  the  most  rigid  sects, 
other  sects  have  no  scruple  in  going  further.  The  Perfectionists 
preach  a  community  of  wives,  and  put  it  in  practice  in  their  great 
phalanstery  at  Oneida.  The  Skaneateles  adopt  a  medium  be- 
tween the  Perfectionists  and  the  Mormons,  and  keep  only  one  wife 
as  long  as  it  suits  them  not  to  change.  Finally,  the  Mormons 
openly  recommend  polygamy,  and  their  great  prophet,  Brigham 
Young,  has  no  less  than  fifty  wives.  All  these  resort  to  the  Bible 
to  justify  their  practices,  and  the  principle  of  private  jud/:^ment 
deprives  our  more  respectable  separated  brethren  of  any  atvi 'lority 
to  combat  depravity  thus  hypocritically  assuming  the  cloak  of 
religion  to  impose  on  the  vulgar. 

It  is  incontestable  that  many  of  the  patriarchs  were  not  monog- 
amists ;  and  when  men  reject  the  tradition  and  authority  of  the 
Church,  they  have  no  arms  to  repel  the  most  criminal  ideas  and 
shameful  acts.  Yet  Protestantism  has  still  some  steps  lower  to 
go  before  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  abyss  of  license  which  pri- 
vate interpretation  has  dug  beneath  their  feet.  They  began  by 
condemning  Christian  cehbacy;  they  then  procl.'med  divorce; 
they  have  now  got  to  polygamy.  To-morrow  we  may  see  the 
Mormons  resorting  to  mutilation  to  secure  guards  to  their  harems. 
And,  in  fact,  as  the  rich  and  privileged  class  monopolize  for  them- 
selves the  women  of  Utah,  they  must  adopt  oriental  usages  to 
protect  the  virtue  of  their  sultanas.  Some  good  men  are  alarmed 
lest  the  Eastern  question  should  defer  the  complete  decomposition 
of  Islamism,  and  believe  that  there  is  more  truth  in  the  heretic 
most  removed  from  Catholic  truth  than  in  the  best  Mussulman. 
We  must  avow  that  we  cannot  see  how  much  Christianity  is  left 
in  the  millions  of  Amencans  who  belong  to  no  church,  who  are  not 
even  baptized,  and  who  are  more  completely  severed  from  us  than 
the  Mohanunedans,  for  the  latter,  by  the  sign  of  circumcision,  are 


rer  to 
h  pri- 


IN  IHE   UNITED  STATES. 


177 


connected  with  the  practices  of  the  IsraeUtes,  our  ancestors  in  the 
faith.  If  polygamy  is  decreasing  at  Constantinople,  it  is  develop- 
ing itself  fearfully  on  the  banks  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  the 
custom  of  divorce,  in  all  the  Stai'cs,  is  a  sad  step  to  more  serious 
infractions  of  God's  laws.  If  slavery  is  maintained  in  Turkey,  it 
is  not  less  rooted  in  the  institutions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  If 
in  the  East,  Mahomet  is  honored  as  a  prophet,  Joe  Smith,  Miller, 
Brigham  Young,  are  venerated  in  the  United  States  as  envoys  of 
God.  Deplorable  moral  degradation,  which  forms  a  sad  contrast 
with  the  progress  of  material  civilization  and  the  wonders  of  in- 
dustry in  the  best  organized  republic  in  tlie  world ! 

The  Catholics  in  the  United  States,  faithful  to  the  laws  of  the 
Church,  seldom  avail  themselves  of  the  facility  aftbrded  for  the 
satisfaction  of  their  passions  by  American  legislation.  And  in 
such  cases  they  cease  to  be  Catholics ;  but  by  marriage  with  Pro- 
testants, the  Cathohc  may  be  placed  in  a  state  of  divorce,  and 
this  is  not  one  of  the  least  dangers  of  these  ill-assortod  unions. 
The  Council  of  Baltimore,  accordingly,  have  not  failed  to  disap- 
prove decidedly  mixed  marriages,  and  to  dissuade  Catholics  from 
them,  while  decrees  endeavor  to  protect  the  faith  of  the  Catholic 
and  that  of  all  the  future  children.  Unfortunately  the  wise  pre- 
scriptions of  the  bishops,  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See,  are  not 
understood  as  thev  deserve  to  be  ;*  and  we  must  sav  that  mixed 
marriages  are  still  frequent  in  the  United  States,  where,  as  else- 
where, they  aftect  the  purity  of  the  faith.  Their  iiitV.llible  result 
is  first  to  call  in  doubt  the  Catholic  dogma :  "  Out  of  the  Church 
no  salvation."  A  mother  and  children  cannot  resign  themselves 
to  the  belief  that  their  father  will  not  be  saved,  and  they  easily 
oome  to  imagine  that  all  religions  are  good.     Moreover,  from  in- 


*  The  sixteenth  statute  of  tlie  Diocesau  Synod  of  1791,  the  firt^t  decree  of 
the  fourth  Provincial  council  of  Baltimore,  end  tholetter  of  the  Congregation 
of  the  Propaganda,  of  July  8, 1847,  lay  down  very  severe  rules  on  the  subject 
of  mixed  maniiiges. 

8* 


__k 


I 

I    5 


I' 


-I 


178 


THE  CATUoLio  ciiuncH 


cessaiit  controversy,  the  Catholic  liusbiuid  or  wifo,  often  unin- 
btrnctr'd,  makes  prodigious  concessions,  imagining  all  the  while 
that  tliey  reniain  true  to  the  faith.  Mixed  marriages  lead  natu- 
rally to  the  mingling  of  Catholics  and  Protestants  in  society.  In 
a  new  country,  vvhei'c  the  arts  are  but  little  dcAcloped,  where 
commerce  augments  fortunes,  but  not  ideas,  conversati  ju  has  not 
the  field  it  finds  elsewhere  ;  and  in  the  commonplace  of  the  parlor, 
religious  conversation  occupies  no  inconsiderable  space.  In  these 
tilts  of  Lei'esy,  full  of  arguments  and  prejudices  against  faltering 
truth,  the  victory  is  often  obtained  by  error ;  and  we  have  heard 
a  liidy,  thinking  herself  a  good  Catholic,  and  approachmg  the 
Sacraments,  avow  to  her  Protestant  antagonists  that  she  believed 
neither  in  ihe  real  presence  nor  in  eternal  punishment.  Long 
observation  in  the  United  States  has  convinced  us  of  the  danger 
of  mixed  marriages,  even  if  we  had  not  the  decrees  of  the  Church 
to  convince  us  on  the  point.  We  have  seldom  seen  tliese  mar- 
riages followed  by  the  conversion  of  the  Protestant  party ;  more 
frequently  do  they  entail  the  perversion  of  the  Catholic.  The 
]>romise  given  as  to  the  religion  of  the  children  unborn  is  inces- 
santly infringed  ;  and  if  we  admire  the  wisdom  of  the  Chui'ch  in 
its  repugnance  for  mixed  marriages,  we  regret  that  the  hardness 
of  the  times  docs  not  permit  her  to  j)rohibit  them  completely. 

The  happy  progress  of  religion,  ascertained  by  the  Fathers  of 
the  lifth  Council,  induced  them  to  ask  a  new  subdivision  of  dio- 
ceses ;  and  in  consequence,  the  bishops  I'enewed  the  proposition 
for  the  erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at  Pittsl)urg  for  Westein 
Pennsylvania,  ;it  the  same  time  that  they  solicited  the  foundation 
of  other  Sees  —at  Chicago  for  the  State  of  Illinois,  at  Milwaukic 
for  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  at  Little  Rock  for  the  State  of  Arkan- 
sas, and  at  H.'irtford  for  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island. 

The  Holy  See  acceded  to  the  proposition,  and  by  letters  of 
September  30th,  1843,  tiie  Congregation  of  the  Piopaganda 
transmitted  the  Pontitical  briefs  appointing  the  lit.  Rev.  Andrew 


J 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


179 


ll'S  of 
dio- 
iition 
Istern 
iitiuii 
iiikic 
^kan- 

of 
linda 
lli<nv 


Byrne  to  the  bishopric  of  Little  Rock ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  William 
Quarter  to  the  See  of  Chicago ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  William  Tyler  to 
the  See  of  Hartford ;  aud  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  M.  Henni  to  the 
bishopric  of  Mihvaukie,  At  the  same  time,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Ignatius 
Reynolds  was  caWeA  to  the  See  of  Charleston,  then  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Bishop  England.  And  Rome  granted  coadjutors  to  the 
Bishop  of  New  York,  in  the  person  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
McCloskey,  and  to  the  Bishop  of  Boston,  in  the  person  of  ihe  Rt. 
Rev.  Jolin  B.  Fitzpatrick.  The  nomination  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Mi- 
chiiol  O'Connor  to  the  See  of  Pittsburg  took  place  on  Mie  7th  of 
August,  1843,  and  that  prelate,  being  then  at  Rome,  was  conse- 
crated in  the  eternal  city  on  the  15th  of  August  in  the  same 
year.* 

The  sixth  Council  of  Baltimore  assembled  on  the  ]  0th  of  May, 
184G.  Twenty-three  bishops  took  piirt  in  its  deliberations,  and 
the  first  decree  was  to  choose  the  "Blessed  Virgin  conceived 
without  sin"  as  the  Patroness  of  the  United  States.  The  Fathers 
of  the  Council  thus  honored  the  Immaculate  Conception  with  an 
ardent  and  unanimous  voice.  "  Ardetitibus  votis  2)io,usu  consen- 
suque  unanindP  And  this  solemn  declaration  might  even  then 
convince  the  holy  Fathers  of  th^  aspirations  of  the  Church  for  the 
dogmatic  definition  of  the  glorious  privilege  of  the  Mother  of 
God.  The  devotion  of  the  faithful,  moreover,  for  the  Immaculate 
Conception  is  not  a  thing  of  to-day  in  North  America.     It  goes 

*  Concilia  Baltiniorieiisia,  227. 

Michael  O'Connor,  born  at  Cork,  in  Ircland,on  the  27th  of  September,  1810; 
consecrated  Bislnp  ot"  Pittsburg,  at  liome,  Aug.  15,  1843. 

Andrew  Byrne,  born  at  Cavan,  Ireland,  December  5,  1802;  consecrated 
BiHhop  of  Little  Rock,  at  New  York,  JIarch  10,  1844. 

William  Quarter,  born  in  King's  county,  Ireland,  January  31,  1806;  con- 
secrated (with  the  last)  Bishop  of  Chicago  ;  died  at  Chicago  April  10,  1848. 

William  Tyler,  born  at  Derby,  Vermont,  June  .5,  1806;  consecrated  Bisliop 
of  Hartford,  at  Baltimore,  March  17,  1844;  died  at  Providence,  June  18, 
1849. 

John  M.  Henni,  born  at  Obersaxony,  Switzerland,  and  consecrated  Biehoii 
of  Mihvaukie  at  Cincinnati,  March  19,  1844. 


jl 

\ 

m 

i 

\          1 , 

1 

i                  \    ■■ 

ii 

%    i 

1 

t     ■-" 

I 
1 

\ 

'I ;; 


\  llil 

is?   'fi .  * 


180 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


back  to  the  earliest  days  of  its  discovery ;  and  tlie  sliip  which 
bore  Columbus  to  the  New  World  was  the  St.  Mary  of  the  Con- 
ception ;  the  second  island  which  he  discovered  was  called  "  La 
Concepcion."  In  the  North,  Champlain,  the  founder  of  Quebec, 
in  1615  dedicated  under  that  title  the  little  chapel  which  he 
built  in  his  rising  city.  In  1635,  the  Jesuits  dedicated  to  the 
Immaculate  Conception  their  venturous  Huron  mission,  and  in 
the  following  year  consecrated  the  country  and  its  people  in  a 
special  innnner  to  "  Mary  conceived  without  sin,"  as  Father  Le 
Jenne  rciates  In  1658  Monseigneur  de  Laval,  Vicar-apostolic 
of  N'.vv  France,  adopted  as  his  anns  the  representation  of  the 
BlfSb^d  Vii'jcrin  Immac  Jate,  and  of  St.  Louis,  king  of  France ;  and 
soon  after  j-  dicated  hiS  cathedral  at  Quebec  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  under  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Some  years 
later,  Garnier  founded  in  Western  New  York  his  mission  of  the 
same  revered  name  ;  but  in  1672  the  great  river  Mississippi  was 
baptized  with  the  name  of  the  Conception,  by  the  holy  Jesuit 
James  Marquette,  the  first  European  who  discovered  its  course ;  and 
this  missionary,  whose  life  .vas  one  continued  devotion,  tells  us 
in  his  narrative  that  he  "  put  this  voyage  under  the  protection  of 
the  'Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,'  promising  her,  that  if  she  did 
lis  the  grace  to  discover  the  great  river,  I  would  give  it  the  name 
of  the  Conception  ;  and  that  I  would  also  give  that  name  to  the 
first  mission  which  I  should  establish  among  these  new  nations, 
as  I  have  actually  done  among  the  Illinois."*  This  was  the 
church  of  Kaskaskia ;  and  not  only  the  first  church  of  that  city, 
but  the  first  church  at  Three  Rivers  in  Canada,  as  well  as  the 
first  at  Mobile,  one  hundred  and  three  years  ago,  were  all  dedi- 
cated to  the  Immaculate  Conception. 

The  prelates  and  clergy  of  the  United  States  have  a  tender 
devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  her  most  admirable  preroga- 

*  Shed'tj  Dificovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  8. 


1 


»^,-Bi.^'il(iriHBid 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


181 


Inder 
loga- 


tives,  aud  eudeavor  to  inspire  the  faitlif.d  with  the  same  piety  by 
estabUshing  archcontVaternities  and  associations  of  prayers.    Their 
zeal  and  preaching  are  rewarded  by  an  increase  of  fervor  in  the 
ranks  of  the  faithful ;  and  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  will 
soon  doubtless  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  in  their  expansive 
faith.     It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  the  misery  of  living  amid  sec- 
taries of  a  thousand  shades,  all  hostile  to  our  dogmas  and  cere- 
monies, exercises  a  pernicious  influence  on  many  souls,  especially 
those  not  early  accustomed  to  it.     They  are  inclined  to  re^t  satis- 
fied with  what  is  of  absolute  necessity  in  religious  practices ;  they 
are  tempted  to  believe,  that  as  God  alone  has  a  right  to  our  ado- 
ration, He  alone  has  a  right  to  our  prayers ;  and  they  fear  to 
scandalize  their  Protestant  neighbors  or  Protestant  members  of 
their  family  by  reciting  their  beads  or  giving  public  honor  to  the 
saints  or  their  effigies.     The  small  number  of  missionaries,  and 
the  poverty  of  the  sanctuaries,  have  contributed  to  perpetuate  a 
state  of  things  which  deprives  religion  of  many  of  its  beauties, 
and  piety  of  many  of  its  delights.     When  the  faithful  were  re- 
duced to  a  Low  Mass  in  an  humble  chapel  on  Sunday,  special 
graces  were  needed  to  prevent  the  heart  from  slumbering  with 
languor  and  remissness;   but  the  incessant  exhortations  of  the 
clergy  daily  accelerate  the  progress  of  piety,  and  the  glorious 
Patroness  of  the  United  States  is  now  honored  with  a  tender  ven- 
eration by  her  children. 

The  sixth  Council  asked  of  the  Holy  See  the  division  of  the 
vast  diocese  of  New  York,  and  the  fonnation  of  the  diocese  of 
Buffalo  with  the  western  counties  of  the  State,  and  that  of  Albany 
with  the  northern  counties.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  proposed 
to  detach  from  the  See  of  Cincinnati  the  northern  portion  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  where  the  See  of  Cleveland  was  to  be  erected. 
The  Holy  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  announced,  on  the 
3d  of  July,  1847,  that  these  propositions  were  adopted;  and  it 
transmitted  the  Pontifical  briefs  appointing  to  the  See  of  Buftalo 


l;^ 


182 


THE   CATHOLIC   CllL'UCH 


tlie  Rt.  Ta'A.  John  Tiiiion,'''  to  ihai  ol"  Albany,  ilie  Kt,  Rev,  Joliu 
McCloskey,  Coadjutor  of  New  York;  aud  to  tlu'.t  of  Cleveland, 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Amadeus  Rappo.f 

While  the  bishops  were  assembled  in  Council,  they  had  the 
consolation  of  seeing  two  Catholic  chaph'.ii ;  appointed  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  join  the  army  then  invading 
Mexico.     The  recruits  of  the  American  forces  aro  generally  Irish, 
and  the  first  regiments  assembled  on  the  Mexican  frontier  were  at 
first  greatly  harassed  in  their  religious  faith.     The  commander 
endeavored  to  enforce  their  attendance  on  the  Protestant  worship 
in  the  camp  ;  some  who  refused  were  even  flogged,  and  numerous 
desertions,  then  and  later,  were  the  results  of  this  deplorable  in- 
tolerance.    This  was  not,  however,  the  first  time  that  Catholic 
soldiers  had  been  hampered  in  the  liberty  of  worship,  under  pre- 
text of  military  discipline.     In   1831,  General  De  Walbach,  at 
Norfolk  in  Virginia,  put  under  arrest  Lieutenant  John  O'Brien 
for  refusing  to  enter  a  Protestant  church  at  the  head  of  his  com- 
])any.     This  aftair  produced  a  considerable  sensation  at  the  time, 
and  the  Lieutenant  would  not  allow  the  matter  to  be  smothered 
up.     He  demanded  a  court-martial,  in  order  to  determine  the 
point  once  for  all,  and  thus  give  Catholics  a  rule  to  guide  them 
on  similar  occasions.     Lieutenant  O'Brien  is  the  same  artillery 
officer  so  distinguished  in  the  Mexican  War,  where  he  rose  to  the 
I'ank  of  Major.     He  was  the  author  of  a  much-esteemed  treatise 
on  military  jurisprudence,  and  his  work  has  been  adopted  by 
(jluvernment  for  the  use  of  courts- martial.     As  may  be  imagined, 
the  author  here  discusses  with  great  care  a  point  on  which  lie 


*  Kt.  Eev.  John  Timon,  born  in  the  United  Sta^eH,  a  Priest  of  the  Mission 
or  Lazarist,  was  in  1824  a  niissionury  in  Texas  and  in  Ohio.  On  the  17th  of 
Oetober,  1847,  he  was  consecrated  Bisliop  of  Buffalo  at  New  Yorit. 

+  Rt.  Rev.  Amadeus  IR-:  "^pc,  born  in  the  diocese  of  Arras  in  France,  crvnie 
to  this  country  in  1840,  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Cleveland  on  the  lOth 
of  (^•stober,  1847,  at  Cincinnati. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


183 


Iby 
Ihe 


fon 
of 

bne 


had  a  personal  collision  with  a  -  ipeiior  oflicer;  and  hi.s  rcasoiiini'" 
deserves  to  be  kno^^". 

The  second  article  of  the  military  code  of  1800,  or  Articles  of 
War,  reads  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  earnestly  recommended  to  all  ofll  •^'•"  '  Vl  soldiers  dili- 
gently to  attend  divine  service ;  and  all  officers  wiio  shall  behave 
indecently  or  irreverently  at  any  place  of  divine  worship,  shall,  if 
commissioned  officers,  be  brought  befc  j  a  general  court-martial, 
there  to  be  pub'^cly  and  severely  reprimanded  '>y  the  president; 
if  non-comraiff  oiied  officers  or  soldiers,  every  person  so  offending 
shall,  for  his  first  offence,  forfeit  one-sixth  of  a  dollar,  to  be  de- 
ducted out  of  his  next  pay ;  for  the  second  offence,  he  shall  not 
only  forfeit  a  like  sum,  but  be  confined  for  twenty-four  hours ; 
and  for  every  like  offence,  shall  suffer  and  pay  in  like  manner ; 
which  money,  so  forfeited,  shall  be  applied  by  the  captain  or 
senior  officer  of  the  troop  or  company,  to  the  use  of  the  sick  sol- 
diers of  the  company  or  troop  to  which  the  offender  belongs."* 

As  Lieutenant  O'Brien  justly  remarks,  the  law*'  prescribe  some 
aots  and  forbid  others.  Every  prohibition  of  an  .';.  t  is  accompa- 
nied with  a  penalty  in  case  of  violation.  Thus,  nnhuchavior  in 
church  is  forbidden  by  Article  II.,  and  whoever  violates  it  incurs 
the  penalti(.'s  laid  down  there.  But  going  to  church  on  Sunday 
is  only  recommended,  and  no  penalty  is  prescribed  for  the  soldier 
who  declines  or  negkcts  to  attend  divine  servic  \  It  is,  then, 
merely  a  counsel,  not  an  order ;  any  other  construction  of  the 
Article  would  be  in  op5n  violation  of  liberty  of  worship,  and 
Congress  is  very  careful  not  to  infringe  this.  It  is,  then,  a  fla- 
grant violation  of  the  Constitution  to  punish  a  soldi  i  who  obeys 

*  A  Treatise  on  American  Military  Law  and  the  Practice  of  Courts-Mar- 
tial, by  -John  O'Brien,  Lieutenant  in  the  U.  S.  Army.  Philadelphia  :  Lea  * 
Blanchard,  1846  ;  p.  57.  We  are  indebted  for  tliese  facts  to  our  friend,  J.  G. 
Shea,  Esq.  The  General  Walbach  hero  mentioned  is  a  strict  Catholic,  and 
brother  to  the  "^«ry  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth  de  Walbac"'  v  dministered  the 
iiooese  of  Phii«delphia  from  1814  to  18?0. 


h\ 


n 

:       11 

: 

1  ! 

1 

1 

1               . 

184 


THE  CATHOLIC    CHURCH 


! :.! .  ! 


ir 


1 1 


VI 


Hi 


■;   * 


his  conscienco  and  rofust's  <o  enter  ;i  church,  and  any  soldier  per- 
Bccuted  for  such  a  cnuso  by  a  fanatical  superior  is  a  victim  of 
revolting  despotism. 

The  Catholic  soldiers  in  Taylor's  army  were  not  pilent  under 
their  wrongs.  Their  remonstrances  readied  Washington ;  the 
religious  press  took  up  their  cause  warmly,  and  public  opinion 
pronounced  in  their  favor.  President  Polk  asked  the  bishops 
assembled  in  Council  to  name  two  chaplai  .s  for  the  troo[)s.  Tho 
prelates  advised  the  government  to  apply  to  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
a  provincial  of  which  resided  at  Georgetown,  at  the  very  doors  of 
the  capitol.  The  provincial  chose  for  this  post  of  honor  two  of 
the  most  eminent  Fathers  of  the  Society — Father  John  ^IcElroy 
and  Father  Anthony  Key.  Although  policy  had  a  considerable 
share  in  this  act  of  justice.  President  Polk  is  entitled  to  the  grati- 
tude of  Catholics  for  affording  the  troops  the  consolations  of  their 
religion  amid  the  peril  of  war :  and  the  fact  of  these  disciples  of 
St.  Ignatius  being  appointed  .!luii>!ains  in  the  army  by  Protestant 
republicans,  is  one  of  those  psovi-iontial  and  extraordinary  eventa 
of  which  the  history  ^f  the  Society  of  Jesus  numbers  so  many  iu 
its  pages.  The  military  legislation  of  the  United  States  not  fore- 
seeing this  function,  the  two  missionaries  were  breveted  as  cap- 
tains, to  give  them  rank  in  the  army,  and  they  followed  tho 
conquerors  to  tread  the  soil  of  Mexico,  from  whicli  the  religious 
of  their  Society  had  been  in  so  iniquitous  a  way  expelled  in  17G7, 
by  the  order  of  Charles  TIL,  King  of  Spain.  At  the  time  when 
the  feelings  of  the  Catholic  soldiers  were  thus  respected,  religion 
enjoyed  the  greatest  degree  of  liberty  and  consideration  which  it 
had  ever  enjoyed  in  the  United  States;  every  political  party 
sought  to  win  the  Catholics ;  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  in 
all  parts  in  honor  of  Pius  IX.,  to  whom  various  cities  voted 
gratulatory  addresses  on  his  election. 

The  Archbishop  of  New  York  was  invited  to  preach  in  the 
halls  of  Congress  at  Washington,  and  the  President,  with  his 


( 
1 

SI 


" '  ji,  vii^TE^?!rf!iry^''^'^y^^'^ 


•ap- 
tho 

ftous 

Ihen 
rion 

Ihit 
irty 
Ilia 
)ted 

I  the 
hia 


IN   TIIK    ITNI'IKD  STATES 


msurrec- 

'igt-es  were 

■  athy  as 

vork  to 


ministry,  joined  in  the  funeral  cortege  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore. Thest^  marks  of  tolerance  and  sympathy  were  far  from 
the  fanaticism  of  the  last  two  centuries.  But  the  revolutions  of 
1848  sent  public  opinion  back  in  Atnericji,  ar  'ukened  the 
filumbering  religious  hate.  On  the  suppression  v 
tions  in  Germany  and  Italy,  thousands  of  sociali«* 
spawned  on  the  United  States.  Welcomed  v  .u. 
martyrs  of  liberty,  these  demagogues  immediately  : 
corrupt  American  institutions,  and  succeeded  but  t(X)  well.  Their 
liatred  against  the  Church  strove  with  infernal  poitidy  to  arouse 
Protestant  fanaticism,  and  the  results  already  obtained  fill  these 
foreign  refugees  with  confidence  for  the  future.  Tn  1840  two 
Jesuits  were  chaplains  in  the  American  army,  and  Catholic  pre- 
lates were  honored,  if  not  courted,  by  all.  In  1854  a  Nuncio  of 
t'le  Pope  was  pursued  from  city  to  city  by  insults  and  murderous 
cries,  and  a  Jesuit  was  treated  with  the  most  unheard-of  bar- 
barity. 

Father  Anthony  Rey  set  out  for  the  army  in  May,  1840,  and 
joined  the  corps  of  General  Taylor,  where  ho  immediately  won 
the  esteem  and  friendship  of  that  old  warrior.  lie  fulfilled  his 
duties  to  the  soldiers  with  admirable  zeal,  which,  not  satisfied 
with  assisting  them  in  the  hospital  and  on  the  field  of  battle, 
induced  him  to  learn  Spanish,  in  order  to  evangelize  the  poor 
Mexiean  frontier-men,  scattered  over  a  territory  incessantly  rav- 
aged by  the  hordes  of  savage  Apaches,  and  destitute  of  all  reli- 
gious succor.  It  was  especially,  however,  at  the  siege  of  Monterey 
that  Father  Rey  displayed  the  courage  of  a  Christian  hero.  The 
combat  was  deadly,  and  continued  from  street  to  street,  from 
house  to  house.  The  Jesuit  accompanied  the  soldiers  in  all  their 
movements,  raising  the  wounded,  administering  the  sacraments  to 
ihe  dying,  praying  for  the  dead,  so  that  a  Protestant  account 
speaks  of  him  in  these  terms  : 

"  The  bulletins  of  your  generals,  and  the  glowing  eulogiuins  of 


1<^.W 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


^  Hi    ||2£ 


1.8 


1.25      1.4      1.6 

=     ==    — 

< 6"     

► 

PhoiDgraphic 

Sdences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


I 


h 
Hi 


1 1 

i 


ni 


i':  -' 


!l  . 


18 


<) 


'1111':   CATHOLIC   CJIUllCII 


lottoi'-wrilers  on  particular  deeds  of  daring,  presout  no  examjjles 
of  licroism  superior  to  this.  That  Jesuit  priest,  thus  coolly, 
bravely,  and  all  unarmed,  walking  among  bursting  shells,  over 
the  slippery  streets  of  Monterey,  and  the  iron  storm  and  battle 
steel  that  beat  the  stoutest,  bravest  soldier  down,  presenting  no 
instrument  of  carnal  warfare,  and  holding  aloft,  instead  of  true 
and  trusty  steel,  that  flashed  the  gleam  of  battle  back,  a  simple 
miniature  cross ;  and  thus  armed  and  equipped,  defying  danger, 
presents  to  my  mind  the  most  sublime  instance  of  the  triumph 
of  the  moral  over  the  physical  man,  and  is  an  exhibition  of  cour- 
age of  the  highest  character.  It  is  equal  to,  if  not  beyond,  any 
witnessed  during  that  terrible  siege."* 

After  the  fall  of  Monterey,  Father  Rey  remained  in  the  city  to 
take  care  of  the  wounded,  and  also  gave  missions  in  the  neigh- 
boring country.  In  one  of  his  apostolic  excursions  he  drew  on 
himself  the  hatred  of  some  wretches  for  inveighing  severely 
against  the  depravity  of  a  village  which  he  had -visited.  Attacked 
by  them,  he  was  assassinated,  together  with  the  domestic  who 
attended  him,  stripped  of  his  clothing,  and  the  body  of  this  gen- 
erous hero  of  faith,  martyr  to  his  apostoHc  zeal,  was  found  by  the 
people  of  Ceralvo,  to  whom  he  had  preached  the  day  before. 
His  soldiers  wept  his  loss,  and  interred  him  far  from  his  native 
land,  far  from  the  land  of  his  adoption,  amid  the  tears  of  the 
Mexicans.f 

*  Memoir  of  Kev.  Anthopy  Key,  S.  J.,  by  James  Wynne.  U.  S.  Catholio 
Magazine,  vi.  543. 

+  Anthony  Rey,  born  at  Lyons,  March  19th,  1807,  was  educated  at  the 
Jesuit  College  of  Fribourg,  and  entered  the  Society,  November  12,  1827. 
He  asked  to  be  sent  to  the  American  missions,  and  landed  in  1 840  in  the 
United  States,  where  he  was  successively  Professor  of  Metaphysics  at  George- 
town College,  assistant  at  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Philadelphia,  then  assistant 
to  the  jirovincial  at  Georgetown,  and  pastor  of  Trinity  Church  in  tliat  Cicy. 
This  post  ho  left  for  the  army  in  Mexico,  where  he  was  to  find  a  grave  in 
the  month  of  January,  1847,  at  the  age  of  forty-one.  Father  Anthony  Eey 
■was  famous  for  hia  zeal  for  the  strict  observance  of  his  rule— a  zeal  which 
never  relaxed. 


\t  the 

1827. 

|in  the 

3orge- 

i'lSt^llt 

City, 
live  in 

Eey 
kvhich 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


187 


Father  Jolm  McElroy,  avIio  sluiretl  the  hibors  of  Father  Rey, 
did  not  advance  as  far  as  his  companion  into  the  interior  of 
Mexico.  He  remained  in  charge  of  the  garrisons  left  in  the  first 
conquered  cities,  and  tliere  gained  the  confidence  of  the  soldiers, 
as  in  1834  he  did  that  of  the  riotous  laborers  on  the  Baltimore 
and  Washington  Railroad,  whose  armed  gatherings,  to  the  num- 
ber of  five  thousand  or  six  thousand,  had  alarmed  all  Maryland. 
The  militia,  called  out  in  haste,  saw  no  means  of  checking  the 
disorder ;  but  the  Jesuit,  by  the  power  of  religion,  recalled  to 
their  labor  these  hard-working  but  excited  men.'* 

We  have  seen  the  Provincial  of  Maryland  choose  two  of  his 
ablest  and  most  experienced  Fathers  for  the  modest  task  of  minis- 
tering to  the  poor  soldier.  This  was  because  all  souls  have  in 
the  eyes  of  God  but  one  price,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus  has 
proved  since  its  origin  that  it  can  give  its  blood  for  the  people  as 
for  the  piince,  for  the  savage  red-man  as  for  the  denizen  of  the 
polished  city.  This  venerable  Society  has  greatly  extenaed, 
within  these  last  years,  the  sphere  of  its  apostolic  labors  in  the 
United  States,  and  to  its  influence  is  due  no  inconsiderable  part 
of  the  wonderful  progress  of  religion  in  that  vast  republic.  We 
spoke  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the  foundation  of  Geoi'getown  Col- 
lege in  1188,  and  the  reorganization  of  the  Society  in  1803. 
This  college,  honored  by  a  visit  from  Washington  in  1795,  has 
never  since  failed  to  receive  the  kindly  consideration  of  the  Federal 


*  Father  McElroy,  a  native  of  Ireland,  rendered  immense  service  to  reli- 
gion by  tlie  missions  at  Frederick  City  and  all  the  western  shore.  He  built 
a  magnificent  church  at  Frederick,  •where  the  Marylaiul  province  now  has  its 
rovitiate;  and  such  was  his  influence  witii  tlie  people,  Miat  in  1829  a  Pro- 
tostant  writer,  Mr,  Schaefl'er,  exclaims  in  his  journal:  "Strange  paradox! 
Catholic  France  expels  the  Jesuits,  deprives  them  of  the  education  of  youth, 
and  the  Protestants  of  Frederick  contribute,  each  with  Ills  fifty  dollars,  to 
build  the  Jesuits  a  college  there."  Father  McElroy  has  been  proposed  for  a 
n.i'.re.  lie  is  nov  (1855)  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Cluirch,  Boston,  but  is  con- 
stantly travelling  to  the  points  where  the  confidence  of  the  bishops  or  the 
wants  of  the  Society  call  him.    (^retineau  Joly,  vi.  S74. 


.188 


THE  CATHOLIC  CUURCII 


■  ■   i 


S'l 


in; 


Gov^ernment,  and  the  classic  solemnities  of  Georgetown  always 
attract  either  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  or  members  of  Con- 
gress.* The  astronomical  labors  of  the  Jesuit  Observatory  are 
famous  in  America,  and  the  learned  professors  of  the  college 
maintain  an  active  correspondence  with  the  scientific  men  of  the 
country.  The  province  of  Maryland  numbered  in  1850,  seventy 
priests  and  sixty  scholastics,  employed  in  different  institutions  or 

*  Tradition  haa  preserved  the  details  of  Washington's  visit  to  Georgetown, 
and  tliey  faitlifnlly  transmit  it  to  the  successive  generations  nurtured  at  the 
college.  The  Father  of  his  Country  arrived  on  horseback,  without  suite  and 
unattended.  lie  led  his  horse  to  the  whitewashed  fence  of  the  college  in- 
closure,  and  was  first  received  by  the  late  Kev.  William  Mathews,  then  a 
young  professor.  As  may  be  supposed,  the  Fathers  gave  him  a  most  cordial 
welcome,  and  took  him  through  their  whole  establishment.  Washington 
expressed  his  admiration  for  the  magnificent  view  which  the  heights  of 
Georgetown  enjoy  ;  but  as  it  was  winter,  and  an  icy  breeze  made  the  party 
shiver,  the  General  observed  that  they  had  to  purchase  the  beauties  of  na- 
ture in  summer  by  tiie  winter's  storm — (Notice  on  Georgetown  College  in 
the  Catholic  Instructor  of  Philadelphia,  Feb.,  1853).  We  cite  this  anecdote 
to  show  that  we  know  the  relations  which  existed  between  the  Jesuits  of 
Maryland  and  the  illustrious  Washington.  A  venerable  religious,  however, 
reproaches  us  in  the  Ami  de  Religion  with  doubting  that  a  personal  friend- 
ship existed  between  Washington  and  Archbishop  Carroll.  We  should  bo 
glad  to  share  the  opinion  of  our  opponent,  but  further  researches  enable  us 
to  renew  the  assertion.  There  is  no  proof  that  Washington  was  a  personal 
friend  of  John  Carroll.  Archbishop  Kenrick  has  kindly  examined  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  first  archbishop,  preserved  in  the  archives,  and  ho  writes : 
"I  find  no  proof  that  Archbishop  Carroll  was  a  personal  friend  of  Washing- 
ton." The  Hon.  Jared  Sparks,  whose  labors  as  the  biographer  of  the  great 
hero,  and  as  the  editor  of  his  works,  render  him  a  high  authority;  also 
writes  us:  "As  Washington  was  frequently  in  Baltimore,  and  as  the  arch- 
bishop was  much  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  classes  of  socief/v  there,  it  is 
probable  that  they  met  on  such  occasions  in  the  social  circles ;  bui:  I  have 
seen  no  evidence  that  there  was  any  particular  intimacy  between  them,  or 
any  other  relations  than  those  of  a  general  acquaintance.  All  the  papers  left 
by  Washington  wen;  for  several  years  in  my  possession,  and  examined  with 
great  care,  and  I  remember  no  private  correspondence  with  Archbishop 
Carroll,  nor  any  evidence  of  an  intimate  intercourse  between  them." 

In  all  Washington's  correspondence  there  is  only  one  letter  to  Archbishop 
fjarroll,  dated  April  10,  1792,  addressing  him  simply  as  "  Sir,"  and  declaring 
vhe  inability  of  Government  to  aid  him  in  converting  the  Indians.  Neither 
Brent's  Life,  nor  Campbell's,  nor  Archbishop  Carroll's  own  panegyric  of 
Washington,  alludes  to  any  such  friendship. 


always 
)f  Con- 
ory  are 
college 
I  of  the 
seventy 
:ions  or 


rgetown, 
■ed  at  the 
suite  and 
allege  in- 
■s,  then  a 
ist  cordial 
[ishington 
leights  of 
the  party 
ics  of  na- 
[;ollcgc  in 
J  anecdote 
Jesuits  of 
however, 
lal  frieud- 
ihould  be 
enable  us 
personal 
the  cor- 
0  writes : 
Washing- 
the  great 
arity;  also 
the  arch- 
here,  it  is 
UK  1  have 
them,  or 
apers  left 
ned  with 
•chbisliop 

•chbishop 
declaring 
Neither 
iCgyric  of 


IN  THE   U^'ITED   STATES. 


189 


•missions.  It  had  a  novitiate  at  Frederick,  aijd  colleges  at  George- 
town, Washington,  and  Worcester.  The  Jesuits  of  this  province 
directed  fifty  churches  in  the  dioceses  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  Pittsburg,  and  Richmond,  including  the  Indian  missions 
in  the  State  of  Maine.  The  vice-province  of  Missouri,  the  first 
Fathers  of  which  wore  furnished  by  Maryland  in  1823,  numbered 
in  1850,  seventy-five  priests,  fifty-six  scholastics,  and  eighty-three 
lay  brothers.  It  had  a  novitiate  and  scholasticate  at  Florissant,  a 
university  at  St.  Louis,  colleges  at  Cincinnati,  Bardstown,  and 
Louisville,  and  directed  twenty-eight  churches  in  the  dioceses  of 
St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  Milwaukie,  and  Chicago,  and 
sixteen  churches  or  stations  among  the  Indians  in  the  territories. 
A  mission  dependent  on  the  province  of  France,  and  lying  partly 
in  Canada,  had  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  the  same  year, 
twenty -one  priests,  who  directed  the  Diocesan  Seminary,  St. 
John's  College,  and  several  churches  in  the  dioceses  of  New  York, 
Albany,  and  Butfalo.  The  province  of  Lyons  had,  at  the  same 
time,  a  mission  in  the  South,  employing  twenty-two  Fathers  in 
the  dioceses  of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  where  they  directed  St. 
Charles'  College  at  Grand  Coteau,  the  School  of  Jesus  in  New 
Orleans,  and  Spring-Hill  College  near  Mobile.  Thus,  in  18^50, 
sixteen  dioceses  shared  in  the  pious  assistance  so  lavishly  afforded 
by  the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  and  since  then  it  has 
founded  new  colleges  at  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and 
in  Louisiana  ?nd  in  California,  and  devotes  itself  to  the  mii^sioiis 
in  the  dioceses  of  San  Francisco  and  Monterey.* 


*  We  add  a  list  of  the  Presidents  of  Georgetown  College : 

1.  Robert  Plunkett,  S.  J.,  from  Oct.,  1791. 

2.  Eobert  Molyneux,  S.  J. 

8.  Louis  Dubourg  (afterwards  Bishop  of  New  Orleans),  till  1799 

4.  Leonard  Neale,  S.  J.  (afterwards  Archbishop  of  Baltimore),  till  1806. 

5.  Eobert  Molyneux,  S.  J.  « 

6.  William  Mathews,  1808.     Died  in  1854. 

7.  Francis  Neale,  S.  J.,  1810.    Died  Dec.  20,  1887. 


190 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIUKCn 


r  ! '!.    I 


n;  f  •! 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


DIOCESE    OF    BALTIMORE — (1846-1852). 


(   I 


Election  of  Plus  IX.— Popularity  of  the  Sovereign  Ponflflf  In  the  United  States— Peter's 
Pence — Seventh  Council  of  Baltimore— Division  of  the  United  States  Into  six  ecclesi- 
astical provinces— Death  of  Archbishop  Eccleston- Most  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrlck, 
8l.\th  Archbishop  of  Baltimore— National  Council  of  Baltimore  and  new  Episcopal 
Sees. 

The  Fathers  of  the  sixth  Council  of  Baltimore  had  scarcely  had 
time  to  return  to  their  dioceses,  when  news  arrived  of  the  death 
of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  elec- 
tion of  His  Holiness  Pius  IX.  The  Catholics  of  the  United 
States  testified  sincere  regret  for  a  pontiff  who  had  done  much 
for  religion  in  their  country,  and  who  had  founded  half  the  epis- 
copal sees  then  existing.  The  holy  organizer  of  so  many  rising 
churches  was  deplored  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  New  World ; 
the  Catholic  papers  put  on  mourning,  and  in  almost  every  diocese 
a  solemn  funeral  service  was  celebrated  for  the  repose  of  the  soul 


8.  John  Grassi,  S.  J.,  1812. 

9.  Benjamin  Fenwick,  S.  J.  1817  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Boston). 

10.  Anthony  Kohlniann,  S.  J.,  1819.    Died  April  10,  1888. 

11.  Enoch  Fenwick,  S.  J. 

12.  Benjamin  Fenwick,  S.  J.,  1824. 

13.  Stephen  L.  Dubnisaon,  S.  J.,  1825. 

14.  John  Beschter,  S.  J.    Died  January  6,  1842. 

15.  Th.  F.  Mulledy,  S.  J.,  till  1887. 

16.  Wm.  McSherry,  S.  J,,  till  1839. 

17.  James  Eyder,  S.  J.,  till  1840. 

23.  Th.  F.  Mulledy,  S.  J.,  from  1845. 

19.  James  Eyder,  S.  J.,  from  1848. 

20.  Charles  Stonestreet,  S.  J.,  from  1851. 

21.  Bernard  A.  Magiure,  S.  J.,  from  1352. 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


191 


much 


of  the  Father  of  the  faithful.  At  Phihulelphia  the  funeral  oration 
on  Gregory  XVI.  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Father  O'Dvvyer, 
in  the  presence  of  the  city  authorities  and  the  two  foreign  con- 
suls— for  the  noble  attitude  of  the  aged  pontiff'  in  his  interview 
with  the  Emperor  of  Russia  had  rendered  his  name  popular 
among  the  Protestants. 

But  this  unusual  sympathy  for  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was 
especially  manifested  in  America  on  the  glorious  accession  of 
Pius  IX.,  June  16, 1846,  and  on  the  generous  measures  by  which 
he  inaugurated  his  reign.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  faithful  was,  as 
is  well  known,  perfidiously  imitated  by  the  Italian  revolutionists ; 
and  they  thus  obeyed  the  word  of  command  of  Mazzini,  who 
deemed  it  the  best  mode  of  overthrowing  the  Pope  to  attack  him 
at  first  by  praise.  The  echo  of  the  magnificent  popular  ovations 
decreed  to  Pius  IX.  resounded  even  beyond  the  Atlantic ;  and 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  wished  in  their  turn  to  show 
their  admiration  for  the  person  and  acts  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiflf. 
Meetings  were  called  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union,  and 
after  eloquent  speeches,  addresses  were  resolved  upon  to  bear  to 
the  Holy  Father  the  spontaneous  tribute  of  American  sympathy 
Some  Italians,  or  some  demagogues,  who  had  crept  into  the  com- 
mittees, in  vain  endeavored  to  disfigure  these  demonstrations  of 
the  people,  by  voting  for  addresses  to  the  Roman  people  instead 
of  felicitations  to  the  prince  raised  by  Heaven  to  the  government 
of  the  States  of  the  Church.  But  the  reasonable  instinct  of  the 
Protestant  republicans  preserved  them  from  the  snares  laid  by 
these  agitators ;  they  were  wise  enough  then  in  the  United  States 
to  understand  that  all  the  nations  of  Europe  are  not  made  for 
republics ;  they  merely  wished  to  see  constitutions  granted  by 
the  sovereign  instead  of  extorted  by  the  people ;  and  the  address 
voted  at  New  York  by  a  meeting  of  six  thousand  persons,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  mayor  of  the  cit}-,  contained  these  remarkable 
words : 


192 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHUKCH 


;;  i 


m 


1 1  ' 


?li! 


'i 

i  " 

* 

w 

) 

i| 

"'    1 

1 

r 

Wt'i 

^ 

a^t\ 

,    'i 

'  s     * 

"  And  more  formithible  than  all  these,  you  must  have  girded 
yourself  to  cncouuter,  and  by  Cod's  help  to  overcome,  that  tickle- 
uess  and  ingratitude  of  multitudes  just  released  from  benumbing 
bondage  which  could  (damor  in  the  wilderness  to  be  led  back  to 
the  flesh-pots  of  Egjpt ;  which  among  the  contemporaries,  and 
even  the  followei-s  of  our  Saviour,  could  leave  him  to  bear  in  soli- 
tude the  agony  of  his  cross ;  and  which  in  your  case,  we  appie- 
hend,  will  yet  manifest  itself  in  unreasonable  expectations,  extrav- 
agant hopes,  impetuous  requirements,  and  in  murmurings  that 
nothing  hfis  been  earnestly  intended,  because  every  thing  has  not 
already  been  accomplished."* 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1848,  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia, 
the  second  city  in  the  Union,  held  in  turn  their  enthusiastic 
)neeting,  and  their  address  closed  with  this  touching  invocation : 

'*  May  the  Almighty  grant  you  length  of  life,  strength  of  heart, 
and  wisdom  from  on  high,  in  order  to  bring  to  a  happy  conclu- 
sion the  beneficent  reforms  which  you  have  begun !  May  He 
inspire  the  princes  and  people  of  Italy  with  the  courage  and 
moderation  necessary  to  second  your  efforts !  May  He  raise  up 
to  you  successors,  who  will  continue  to  extend  the  influence  of 
peace  and  justice  on  earth ;  and  the  time  will  come  when  the 
meanest  of  God's  poor  will,  if  oppressed,  be  able  to  summon  the 
most  powerful  of  his  oppressors  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  united 
Christendom ;  and  the  nations  will  sit  in  judgment  upon  him, 
and  the  oppressor,  blushing  with  shame,  shall  be  forced,  by  their 
unanimous  and  indignant  voice,  to  render  justice  to  the  op- 
pressed." 

Thus  did  the  Protestants  of  America  then,  by  their  avowed 
wishes,  call  for  the  moment  when  the  Papacy  should  once  more 
sit  as  a  supreme  tribunal,  judging  kings  and  nations.     They  saw 

*  Proceedings  of  the  public  demonstration  of  sympathy  with  Pope  Pius 
IX.  and  with  Italy,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  Monday,  Nov.  29,  1847. 
New  York :  Van  Norden,  1847  (pp.  60),  p.  80. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


193 


Ivowed 
more 

by  saw 

pe  Pius 
J,  1847. 


tliat  in  tlio  niiildlo  ages  tlie  people  owed  to  that  august  power 
their  eutViiiiclilscmoiit  from  the  slavery  of  their  masters,  and  that 
the  uations  relapsed  into  unarchy  or  servitude  us  soon  as  princea 
threw  off  this  salutary  check.  To  point  to  the  restoration  of  the 
spiritual  authority  of  the  Holy  See  over  the  monarchs,  as  the  best 
remedy  against  the  oppressions  of  humanity,  was,  however,  too 
sincere  an  avowal  to  bo  lasting,  and  they  were  soon  seei*,  in  spite 
of  their  enthusiastic  professions,  siding  with  those  who  revolted 
against  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  Some  Italians,  as  we  have  re- 
marked, took  part  in  these  sympathetic  meetings.  They  were 
then  the  first  and  foremost  in  America  to  cry  "Pio  Nino," 
though  on  the  very  eve  of  casting  off  this  mask,  and  declaring 
themselves  open  enemies  of  the  Papacy.  One  of  them,  Avezzana, 
became  Minister  of  War  of  the  Roman  Republic ;  another,  Fo- 
resti,  presided  in  1854  at  the  most  violent  meetings  against  the 
apostolical  envoy,  Monseigneur  Bedini ;  a  third,  Secchi  de  Casali, 
editor  of  a  miserable  Italian  sheet  at  New  York,  became  the 
seide  of  Gavazzi,  and  his  pen  is  more  envenomed  against  the 
Catholics  than  even  his  master's  tongue.  And  these  men  were 
the  warm  admirers  of  Pius  IX.  in  1846. 

The  Catholics  were  more  persevering  in  their  love ;  and  when 
they  heard  of  the  assassination  of  Rossi  (November  16,  1848), 
and  the  escape  of  the  Holy  Father,  eight  days  later,  their  filial 
respect  for  the  persecuted  Pontiff  redoubled.  As  the  stay  of 
Pius  IX.  at  Gaeta  was  expected  to  be  only  temporary,  they  asked 
where  in  the  whole  world  ho  would  retire  during  the  anarchy 
which  ravaged  the  eternal  city ;  and  the  faithful  in  the  United 
States  flattered  themselves  that  the  Pope  would  come  to  seek  a 
generous  hospitality  from  the  great  republic  of  the  New  World. 
The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  was  the  organ  of  this  unanimous 
voice,  and  on  the  18tli  of  January,  1849,  Feast  of  the  Exaltation  of 
the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  Archbishop  Eccleston  wrote  to  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  to  beg  him  to  honor  Maryland  with  his  sacred  presence : 

9 


■^ 


ii. 


m 


!! : 


1 1 


194 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


"  Our  seventh  Council  of  Baltimore  is  to  be  held  on  the  0th  of 
May  next.  We  are  perhaps  too  hold,  Holy  Father,  in  asking  and 
hoping  that,  if  possible,  the  shadow  of  I'eter  may  even  transiently 
gladden  us,  and  give  us  new  strength  and  courage.  IIow  great 
an  honor  and  support  to  our  rising  Church  !  Avhat  joy  and  fervor, 
what  fruits  and  pledges  of  communion  throughout  our  whole 
republic,*  if  your  Holiness,  yielding  to  our  unanimous  wishes, 
would  but  stand  amid  the  prelates  jissembled  from  the  most  re- 
mote shores  of  North  America,  and  deign  to  console  and  honor 
us  and  our  flocks  with  your  apostolic  advice  and  paternal  bless- 
ing !  The  Council  might  easily,  if  your  Holiness  so  direct,  be 
deferred  to  a  more  convenient  time,  and  so  far  as  our  poverty 
permits,  nothing  shall  be  wanting  to  make  every  thing  a  comfort 
and  joy  to  our  Most  Holy  Father."* 

Deprived  of  the  happiness  of  being  presided  over  by  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  pi-ince  of  the  apostles,  the  Fathers  of  the  seventh 
Council  of  Baltimore  wished  to  show  their  lively  sympathy,  by 
ordering  a  collection  to  be  made  in  their  dioceses,  in  the  nature 
of  Peter's  pence.  This  spontaneous  tribute  produced  about 
twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  which  was  transmitted  to  the  Pope's 
Nuncio,  at  Paris,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

The  Council  met  on  the  6th  of  May,  1849  ;  twenty-five  bishops 
were  present ;  and  by  the  first  and  second  decrees,  the  Fathers 
proclaimed  that  the  devotion  of  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  the 


*  L'Orbe  Cattolico  a  Pio  IX.  Pontifice  Massimo  esulante  da  Roma.  Na- 
poli,  1850;  vol.  i.  248.  This  work,  published  by  t)  e  Civiltii  Cattolica,  con- 
tains the  letters  of  condolence  and  sympathy  addressed  to  the  Holy  Father 
by  the  bishops  of  the  whole  world  on  the  news  of  his  exile  to  Gaeta — a 
magnificent  monument  of  the  unanimity  of  the  Church  and  its  communion 
with  its  head.  Besides  the  letter  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  we  re- 
mark letters  from  the  Bishop  of  Natchez  and  the  Bishop  of  Wallawalla  and 
Nesqualy,  but  we  do  not  perceive  the  beautiful  letter  addressed  to  Pope 
Pius,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1849,  by  the  Fathers  of  the  seventh  Council  of 
Baltimore  :  and  yet  that  important  document  merits  an  honorable  place  in 
Buch  a  collection. 


'    i  . 


'h    r; 


U'ntod  States  tn  n.    T  -^^^ 

«■■■■  «"■>■  w:;:: :,  r::^  ^-rr  or  ,„„  i„.,„, ,,,. 

'■"«•"■'    -■"'  lively  .,,,;:,;'  "■"■;■"   "•"'  "»  l>.-c.I,„c.3  wo,    1 

<-g;a;  at  S,.I'aul  for  Mine,;, ',"''''''' '"■  "'"  »"'«  of 

f-i^i  'o  the  United  States,     ^e  ttu     '  tf '  """  '""='^  ^-' 
•on  .'ctarded  the  exa,„i„„ti„„  of  ,  '     t    /"'"  ^""'••'"  Kovol,,. 
IV  having  entered  Eo.ne  on"  .      ^th    f  !''^^°""-'  I  hnt  „.e 
f  T' ">"  ---"moa  their  acculmln       "'  ""'"'''  '^'"^  'ho  CW 
h  'otter  of  Angnst  0,  1850,Te  ft   ':''"'';'"'''««''"-.''«on.;  and, 
"more  the  Poniifica,  briefe  tli   ^^ *"".     "™™'"'^<'  '"  lial 
now  See  of  Wheeling  .1,    "■'".*""'S:  Bishop  VVhelan  to  ,   , 
O-iand  to  the  See  o'^  t::TuV"'  ''"'■  "--'^  ^  » 
•^"  f  St-  Paul,  the  Rev.  Wn tcUl f'?, '?''''  ^'■«'"'  '°  'he 
and  the  Rev.  John  Lan.y  ,o  t  e  Ve  ,     "  ""  '«^  "^  K-''n.on.l, 
ho  Rev.  Charles  P.  Men  J    ' '"    '  "''r '"""  "'  ^anta  Fe 
Joseph  Sadoc  AIen,any  SZ\"     ?"  '"'  '■'=f"»'''.  'ho  Rev 
Ca«forni,a,  a  province  eed  d  to      It      "'  ^<='^  "'  M^terey  ia 
'ho  w.ar  of  me.f  '"^  '°  "'"  ^"""l  S'a'es  by  Me.xieo,!C 

Joseph  tC;  „V;?,f  y-  ^°l"=»">«r  80,  S,  '"'""""='•  W.  18«,  ilicci  „, 


190 


'niK  CATIIOMC  ciii'ucri 


f » 


Till)  l)is}i(>|)H  also  propuscd  siillVan^ans  f(»r  flio  mt'ti'npolitftu  S»'o 
of  St.  Louis,  wliii'h  tlu!  Holy  Sc-f  had,  l»y  brii^f  of  July  'JO,  1H47, 
raisi'il  to  iho  dignity  of  an  an'lii<')»iscoj>al  Scd.  Many  of  tlio 
bi.sliopH  Ii/kI  opposed  the  division,  but  now  yielding  to  the  voico 
of  Peter,  (hey  proposed  other  ecclesiastical  provinces,  and  to  tho 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  assigned  as  sutlVagans,  tho  Hisiiops  of 
Dubucjuo,  Nashville,  St.  Paul,  Chicago,  and  Milwaukio.  New 
apostolic  briefs,  of  the  lOlh  of  July,  1850,  contirnied  this,  and  at 
the  same  time  erected  into  nietro})olitan  churches — 

1st.  Tho  See  of  New  Orleans,  with  Mobile,  Natchez,  Littlo 
Rock,  and  Oalveston  us  sullVagans. 

2(1.  Tiio  See  of  Cincinnati,  with  Louisville,  Detroit,  Vincennes, 
and  Cleveland  as  suflVagana. 

.3d.  1'he  See  of  New  York,  with  B(^ston,  Hartford,  Albany,  and 
IJutlalo  as  suffragans. 

By  this  division,  the  Archbishop  of  naltinioro  retained  as  his 
suffragans  only  tho  Bishops  of  riiiladelphia,  Richmond,  Wheeling, 
Savannah,  Charleston,  and  Tittsburg.  The  United  States  wero 
thus  divided  into  six  ecclesiastical  provinces,  including  tho  prov- 
ince of  Oregon,  erected  July  24,  1840. 

Admirable  fecundity  of  tho  Church,  which,  amid  its  greatest 
trials,  gives  birth  to  now  folds !  While  the  enemies  of  religion 
believed  that  they  had  destroyed  tho  I'apacy  at  Rome,  a  hierar- 
(ihical  organization,  full  of  the  future,  was  preparing  in  America. 
The  prelates  awaited  with  the  most  respectful  deference  the  end 
of  tho  Revolution,  so  that  the  Holy  Father  might  confirm  their 
decrees ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Pius  IX.,  on  his  complete 
restoration  to  his  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  was  to  approve 

•\nth  five  other  missionaries  of  Auvergne ;  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Agutho 
in  partihua,  and  Viear-apostolic  of  New  Mexico,  November  24, 1850. 

Joseph  Sadoc  Alemany,  a  Dominican,  born  in  Catalonia,  then  exiled  to 
Italy,  but  coming  to  America,  became  provincial  of  the  Order,  was  conse- 
crated at  Rome,  second  Bishop  of  Monterey,  in  1850,  and  transferred  to  the 
archbishopric  of  Sun  Franci-^co,  July  29,  1853. 


li^'H 


IH47, 
of  U»o 
i  voice 

to  tbo 

\0\)A    of 

New 
jind  at 

,  Litllo 

[loennes, 

(iny,  and 

\  as  bis 

liecliug, 

tes  were 

10  prov- 

jxreatest 
religion 

iiierar- 

Luiorica. 

the  end 

inn  their 

fiomplete 

approve 

jf  Agutho 

exiled  to 
jaa  conse- 
Icd  to  the 


IN  TllK   UNITED  STATKS. 


197 


the  proposjila  of  the  Council  at  B.-iltinioro.  By  a  romrnkaMo 
coincidence,  the  erection  of  liaitinutre  into  n  jnefropolitan  See  hinl 
been  elfected  in  1808,  at  a  nionitjnt  when  I'ins  VII.  was  the  vie- 
tiin  of  persecution,  and  the;  bnlls  of  installation,  retarded  by  the 
iuiprisomneiit  of  that  holy  Tontitf,  and  by  the  death  of  the  hishop 
who  was  bringing  them  to  this  coi'iitry,  reached  the  United 
States  only  in  1810. 

Before  separating,  the  bishops  addressed  pastoral  letters  to  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  their  dioceses,  elegantly  expressive  of  the  grief 
which  they  felt  to  witness  the  outrages  ollered  to  the  Holy  See. 
"We  are  not  subject  to  the  Sovereign  Tontitf  as  a  tenipt)ral 
power,  and  are  devotedly  attached  to  the  republican  institutions 
under  which  we  live.  We  feel  ourselves  to  bo  impartial  judges 
of  the  events  which  have  resulted  in  his  llight  from  the  capitul, 
and  of  the  subsequent  attempts  to  strip  him  of  all  civil  power ; 
yet  as  friends  of  order  and  liberty,  wo  cannot  but  lament  that  his 
enlightened  policy  has  not  been  suffered  to  develop  itself,  and 
that  violence  and  outrage  have  disgraced  the  proceedings  of  those 
who  proclaim  themselves  the  friends  of  social  progress.  Wo 
must  at  the  same  time  avow  our  conviction  that  the  temporal 
J)rincip^dity  of  the  Roman  States  has  served  ii.  the  order  of  Divine 
Providence,  for  the  free  and  unsuspicious  exercise  of  the  spiritual 
functions  of  the  Pontificate,  and  for  the  advancement  of  tho 
interests  of  religion  by  fostering  institutions  of  charity  and  learn- 
ing. Were  the  Bishop  of  Rome  the  subject  of  a  civil  ruler  or 
the  citizen  of  a  republic,  it  might  be  feared  that  he  would  not 
always  enjoy  that  freedom  of  action  which  is  necessary,  that  his 
decrees  and  measures  be  respected  by  the  faithful  throughout  the 
world.  We  know,  indeed,  that  if  at  any  time  it  please  God  to 
suffer  him  to  be  permanently  deprived  of  all  civil  power,  He  will 
divinely  guard  tho  free  exercise  of  his  spiritiial  authority,  jis  was  the 
case  during  the  first  three  ages,  under  the  reign  of  the  pagan  empe- 
rors, when  the  bishops  of  Rome  displayed  an  apostolic  energy, 


198 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


which  was  everywhere  felt  and  respected.  On  account  of  the 
more  excellent  principality  attached  to  the  Church  of  Rome  from 
the  beginning,  as  founded  by  the  glorious  apostles,  Peter  and 
Paul,  every  local  church — that  is,  all  Christians  in  every  part  of 
the  world — felt  bound  to  harmonize  in  faith  with  that  most 
ancient  and  illustrious  Chnch,  and  to  cherish  inviolably  her  com- 
munion. The  successor  of  Peter,  even  under  circumstances  so  un- 
favorable, watched  over  the  general  interests  of  religion  in  Asia  and 
Africa,  as  well  as  Europe,  and  authoritatively  proscribed  every 
error  opposed  to  divine  revelations,  and  every  usage  pregnant 
with  danger  to  its  integrity. 

"  The  Pontifical  office  is  of  divine  institution,  and  totally  inde- 
pendent of  all  the  vicissitudes  to  which  the  temporal  principality 
is  subject.  When  Christ  our  Lord  promised  to  Peter  that  He 
would  build  his  church  on  him  as  a  rock,  He  gave  him  the 
assurance  that  the  gates  of  hell — that  is,  the  powers  of  darkness 
— should  not  prevail  against  it ;  which  necessarily  implies  that 
his  office  is  fundamental  and  essential  to  the  Church,  and  must 
continue  to  the  end  of  time.  Peter  was  constituted  pastor  of  the 
lambs  and  sheep — namely,  of  the  whole  flock  of  Christ — which 
through  him  is  one  fold  under  one  shepherd.  Our  Lord,  at  his 
last  supper,  prayed  that  his  disciples,  and  those  who  through 
their  ministry  should  believe  in  Him,  might  be  one,  even  as  He 
and  the  Father  are  one ;  and  as  He  is  always  heard,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  this  unity  is  an  inseparable  characteristic  of  the 
Church ;  whence  the  office  of  the  chief  pastor,  by  which  unity  is 
maintained,  can  never  cease.  We  exhort  you,  brethren,  to  con- 
tinue steadfast  in  your  attachment  to  the  chair  of  Peter,  on  which 
you  know  that  the  Church  is  built.  Since  it  has  pleased  Divine 
Providence  to  establish  that  chair  in  the  city  of  Kome,  the  capital 
of  the  pagan  world,  in  order  to  show  forth  in  the  most  striking 
manner  the  power  of  Christ,  he  is  a  schismatic  and  prevaricator 
who  attempts  to  establish  any  other  chair  in  opposition  to  the 


11 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


199 


y  inde- 
cipality 
bat  He 
lim  the 
arkness 
les  that 
d  must 
of  the 
■which 
j,  at  his 
through 
as  He 
cannot 
of  the 
Anity  is 
,0  con- 
which 
Divine 
capital 
;tr  iking 
,ricator 
to  the 


Roman  See  or  independent  of  it.  That  Church  was  consecrated 
by  the  martyrdom  of  the  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  who  be- 
queathed to  her  their  whole  doctrine  with  their  blood.  Christ 
our  Lord  has  placed  the  doctrine  of  truth  in  the  chair  of  unity, 
and  has  charged  Peter  and  his  successor  to  confirm  their  breth- 
ren, having  prayed  specially  that  the  faith  of  Peter  may  not  fail. 
By  means  of  the  uninterrupted  tradition  of  that  Church,  coming 
down  through  the  succession  of  bishops  from  the  apostles,  we 
confound  those  who  through  pride,  self-complacency,  or  any 
other  perverse  influence,  teach  otherwise  than  divine  revelation 
warrants,  and  attempt  to  adulterate  the  doctrine,  which,  as  pure 
streams  from  an  unpolluted  fountain,  flows  hence  throughout  the 
whole  world."* 

We  see  how  the  bishops  of  the  United  States  maintained  a  close 
and  firm  union  with  the  centre  of  Catholicity,  and  how  imbued 
their  teachings  were  with  a  sincere  devotedness  to  the  Holy  See  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  tempest  raged  in  all  its  fury  against 
the  sacred  rock  of  the  Church.  After  such  striking  proofs  of  a 
perfect  orthodoxy,  it  is  consoling  to  read  what  the  first  Bishop  of 
Baltimore  wrote  in  1791,  one  year  after  his  consecration : 

"On  the  1th.  of  next  month,"  says  Archbishop  Carroll,  "our 
clergy  are  to  meet  here  in  a  diocesan  synod ;  then  we  shall  dis- 
cuss the  mode  of  preserving  the  succession  to  the  episcopacy  of 
the  United  States.  Instead  of  a  coadjutor,  I  am  much  inclined 
to  solicit  a  division  of  my  diocese  and  the  creation  of  another 
bishopric.  One  only  objection,  of  much  weight,  retards  my  de- 
termined resolution  in  favor  of  this  scheme,  and  that  is,  that  pre- 
vious to  such  a  step  a  uniform  discipline  may  be  established  in 
all  parts  of  this  great  continent,  and  every  measure  so  firmly 
concerted,  that  as  little  danger  as  possible  may  remain  of  a  dis- 
union with  the  Holy  See.     I  am  very  fearful  of  this  event  taking 

*  Catholic  Almanac,  1850,  p.  51. 


i    'V 


i ' 


-ll 


H:  1. 


200 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHUKCH 


place  in  succeotliiig  time,  unless  it  be  guarded  against  by  every 
prudential  precaution.  Our  distance,  though  not  so  great  if  geo- 
metrically ineasiued,  as  South  America,  Goa,  and  China,  yet  in  a 
political  light  is  much  greater.  South  America  and  the  Portu- 
guese possessions  in  Africa  and  Asia  have,  through  their  metro- 
political  countries,  an  intermediate  connection  with  Rome ;  and 
the  missionaries  in  China  are  almost  all  Europeans.  But  we 
have  no  European  metropolis,  and  our  clergy  soon  will  be  neither 
Europeans  nor  have  European  connections.  Then  will  be  the 
danger  to  a  propensiou  to  a  schismatical  separation  from  the 
centre  of  unity.  But  the  Founder  of  the  Church  sees  all  these 
things  and  can  provide  the  remedy.  After  doing  what  we  can, 
we  must  commit  the  rest  to  His  Providence."* 

His  Providence  has  not  been  wanting,  and  the  spectacle  pie- 
sented  by  the  hierarchy  of  the  United  States  sixty  years  after  its 
venerable  founder  betrayed  his  well-founded  anxiety  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  bonds  of  unity,  can  only  inspire  us  with  increased 
confidence  for  the  future. 

Archbishop  Eccleston,  who  had  the  honor  of  presiding  over 
five  of  the  councils  of  Baltimore,  considered  the  interest  of  the 
Church  at  large  more  important  than  the  particular  rank  of  his 
metropolitan  See,  and  without  opposition,  accepted  that  division 
of  ecclesiastical  provinces  which  reduced  Baltimore  to  the  same 
rank  as  its  former  suffragans  of  New  York  and  Cincinnati.  The 
seventh  Council  had  asked  that  the  primatial  dignity  should  be 
attached  to  the  See  of  Baltimore,  on  account  of  the  priority  of  its 
origin.  In  a  new  counuy  like  the  United  States,  an  historic 
existence  of  half  a  century  is  almost  antiquity.  The  Holy  See 
deemed  proper  to  defer  this  oflScial  favor,  but  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore  nevertheless  preserved  a  sort  of  honorable  primacy, 
and  he  was  specially  invested  in   1853   with  the  functions  of 

*  Brent's  Biographical  Sketch  of  Archhishop  Ciirrol!,  p.  153. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


201 


g  over 
of  tlie 
of  liis 
ivision 
same 
The 
Lild  be 
of  its 
listoric 
[ly  See 
lop  of 
macy, 
ins  of 


Apostolical  Legate  of  the  First  National  Council  of  the  United 
States. 

Archbishop  Eccleston  also  distinguished  his  episcopate  by  his 
labors  for  the  completion  of  his  cathedral.  To  him  it  is  indebted 
for  the  second  tower  and  the  interior  and  the  exterior  decoration 
of  a  portion  of  the  pile.  The  prelate  wished  to  raise  the  portico, 
the  absence  of  which  injures  the  facade  of  the  cathedral,  but  un- 
fortunately death  did  not  permit  him.  Although  apparently  in 
good  health,  his  constitution  was  very  delicate,  and  God  called 
the  archbishop  to  Himself,  at  an  age  when  he  might  still  hope  to 
render  long  service  to  the  Church.  The  archbishop  visited 
Georgetown  early  in  April,  1851,  intending  to  make  only  a  short 
stay  there,  but  sickness  detained  him,  and  he  expired  piously  on 
the  22d  of  April.  The  calmness,  patience,  amenity,  and  piety 
which  he  displayed  during  his  last  days  were  truly  edifying,  and 
one  of  the  religious  who  attended  the  venerable  sufferer,  wrote  to 
her  companions  some  hours  before  the  fotal  moment :  "  Could 
you  have  been  at  our  Father's  side  since  the  beginning  of  his  ill- 
ness, what  angelic  virtue  Avould  you  not  have  witnessed !  Such 
perfect  meekness,  humility,  patience,  and  resignation !  Not  a 
murmur,  not  a  complaint  has  escaped  his  lips.  Truly  has  lie 
most  beautifully  exemplified  in  himself  those  lessons  which,  in 
health,  he  preached  to  others.  In  losing  liim,  we  lose  indeed  a 
devoted  father,  a  vigilant  superior,  a  sincere  and  most  disinterested 
friend." 

To  take  the  mortal  remains  of  the  worthy  prelate  to  his  metro- 
politan See,  the  funeral  had  to  cross  Washington,  the  capital  of 
the  Union ;  the  procession,  which  Avas  nearly  a  mile  long,  slowly 
wended  its  way  through  the  principal  street,  chanting,  amid  the 
tolling  of  the  bells,  the  psalms  of  the  ritual ;  the  clergy  were 
arrayed  in  their  proper  vestments,  and  among  the  distinguished 
persons  who  followed  the  corpse  weie  seen  the  Frcsident  of  the 
United  States,  his  Cabinet,  and  the  membere  of  the  diplomatic 

9* 


1': 


202 


THE  CATHOLIC  CIlURCn 


ns. 


i  ■  .1, 


Mi '.  t 


1^ 


■  ! 


It 


1 

i 

iimi 

1 

1 

1 

1  '■ 

1 

1 ' 

i-'l 

■    :  I     9> 
■■    ■■  '      l'' 

i  :i  i 
In  M 


iVliilo  tlu!  ExGoutivo  poAvcr  tlius  honored  tlie  Outholic 
iclii^ion  in  its  pastors,  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  at  that 
very  time  the  Queen  of  England,  wlio  has  nine  millions  of  Cath- 
olic subjects  in  Europe,  allowed  her  ministry  to  insult  them  and 
provoke  a  fanatical  agitation,  on  no  better  pretext  than  the  re- 
cstablishment  of  the  Episcopal  hierarchy. 

"Archbishop  Eccleston,"  says  his  biographer,  "was  gifted  with 
talents  of  a  high  order.  He  had  a  penetrating  mind,  which  he 
liad  cultivated  by  a  laborious  study,  and  enriched  with  varied 
learning.  As  a  preacher  of  the  words  of  God,  he  Avas  regarded 
as  eloquent,  graceful  and  persuasive,  displaying  great  zeal  and 
piety  in  all  he  uttered,  and  was  sure  to  enlist  the  undivided  at- 
tention of  his  hearers.  It  may  not  be  useless  to  record  here  a 
fact,  which  is  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  ministry 
in  this  country,  that  shortly  before  his  elevation  to  the  priesthood, 
young  Eccleston  was  invited  to  deliver  a  prayer  at  the  public 
celebration  in  Baltimore  of  the  4th  of  July,  anniversary  of  ouv 
national  independence.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  appeared 
before  the  vast  assemblage  of  people,  vested  in  cassock,  surplice, 
and  stole ;  and  while  as  a  minister  of  God  he  invoked  the  divine 
blessing  upon  the  nation,  and  exhibited  the  approval  of  a  free 
government  and  popular  liberty  by  the  Church,  he  delighted  his 
inuiiense  audience  by  his  eloquent  appeal  to  the  throne  of  mercy, 
and  the  pleasing  manner  of  its  delivery. 

"In  person  the  archbishop  was  tall  and  commanding,  and  re- 
markable for  his  gi'aceful  deportment  and  ease  in  conversation. 
No  one  ever  approached  him  familiarly  without  being  pleased 
with  him  or  without  an  increased  respect  for  his  person.  His 
piety  was  of  the  highest  order.  No  one  could  look  upon  him 
without  being  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  a  true  prelate 
of  the  Church.  Ever  unostentatious  and  unassuming,  his  great 
aim  was  to  do  good  to  all  men,  seeking  the  will  of  his  great 
Master.     His  study  was  to  please  Him,  regardless  of  tlie  world, 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


203 


|id  re- 
lation, 
leased 
His 
him 
relate 
Igreat 
Igreat 
/orld, 


which  would  willingly  have  heaped  upon  him  its  choicest  honors, 
had  he  not  studiously  fled  from  them."* 

On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  the  See  of  Baltimore 
did  not  long  remain  vacant,  and  by  letters  apostolic  of  August  3, 
1861,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick  was  transferred  from  the 
See  of  Philadelphia  to  the  archbishopric  of  Baltimore.  By  a 
brief  of  the  19  th  of  August  in  the  same  year,  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff appointed  Archbishop  Kenrick  apostolic  delegate,  to  preside 
at  the  National  Council  of  the  entire  episcopate  of  the  United 
States.  This  Couiicil  met  on  the  9th  of  May,  1852  ;  six  arch- 
bishops and  twenty-six  bishops  took  part  in  its  deliberations,  and 
the  most  important  measure  which  they  proposed  to  the  Holy 
See,  was  to  create  new  dioceses,  in  order  to  multiply  on  the  im- 
mense surface  of  the  American  continent  the  centre  of  action  and 
vigilance,  and  in  order  that,  in  no  point,  the  faithful  be  out  of  the 
reach  of  visits  from  their  first  pastors.  If  there  were  questions  of 
dignities,  rendered  attractive  by  the  honors,  power,  or  riches  of 
earth,  we  might  see  in  this  development  of  the  episcopate,  human 
reasons  and  motives  of  ambition.  But  in  the  United  States,  the 
mitre  is  only  a  fearful  burden,  with  none  of  the  consolations 
Avhich  lighten  it  elsewhere ;  and  the  prelates  are  but  venerable 
mendicants,  ever  extending  the  hand  for  daily  bread,  for  means 
to  raise  the  humble  shrines  that  form  their  cathedrals  and 
churches.  Imagine  one  of  these  missionaries,  on  whom  the  Holy 
See  imposes  the  burden  of  a  diocese,  and  imprints  the  apos- 
tolic character.  The  new  bishop  has  every  thing  to  create ;  he 
finds  only  a  few  priests  scattered  here  and  there,  entirely  insuffi- 
cient for  a  country  where  immigration  periodically  brings  crowds 
of  Irish  and  German  Catholics,  who  are  to  be  preserved,  and  still 
more,  whose  children  are  to  be  preserved  from  the  allurements  of 
error.     He  must  build  a  church  and  a  dwelling,  found  a  seminary 

*  Notice  of  Archbishop  Eccleston  in  Catliolic  Almanac  for  1852,  p.  60. 


Pi 

r' 

1 1 '  -^ 

11,;/ 

iF'  '' 

jyj 

204 


THE   CATIIOIJC  CIIURCir 


and  schools,  elicit,  vocations  by  his  influence,  and  confirm  tliA 
faithful  in  the  truth;  gather  around  him  Brothers  and  communi- 
ties of  Sisters,  provide  by  unceasing  toil  for  the  subsistence  of 
these  fellow-laborers,  travel  constantly  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  in 
snow  or  rain,  preach  at  all  hours,  hear  confessions  without  re- 
spite, visit  the  sick,  and  watch  everywhere  to  preserve  intact  the 
sacred  deposit  of  faith  and  morality.  Such  is  the  life  of  an 
American  prelate  appointed  to  found  a  new  diocese — a  life  of 
bodily  fatigue,  like  that  of  the  humblest  missiouaiy,  but  with  all 
the  responsibility  of  a  bishop.  Most  frequently  such  duties  are 
accepted  through  obedience  by  him  whom  the  Iloly  See  deems 
courageous  enough  to  fulfil  them  ;  and  the  new  diocese  soon  sees 
churches  and  convents  arise,  the  clergy  multiply,  and  the  piicst 
stand  beside  the  pioneer  in  the  latest  clearings.  Such  is  the  his- 
tory of  religion  in  America  since  the  commencement  of  this 
century,  and  the  future  promises  that  in  spite  of  the  trials  of  the 
last  few  years,  this  development  will  npt  cease. 

By  his  apostolic  letter  of  July  29,  1853,  the  Holy  Father  ap- 
proved most  of  the  propositions  of  the  National  Council,  and  in 
the  ecclesiastical  province  of  Baltimore  he  founded  the  new  dio- 
cese of  Erie,  a  dismemberment  of  that  of  Pittsburg.  In  tho 
province  of  New  York  the  Sees  of  Burlington  and  Portland  were 
detached  from  Boston,  and  those  of  Brooklyn  and  Newark  were 
detached  from  the  diocese  of  New  York.  lu  the  province  of 
Cincinnati  the  diocese  of  Covington  was  formed  of  the  eastern 
portion  of  Kentucky,  which,  till  then,  had  formed  part  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Louisville.  The  province  of  St.  Louis  was  increased  by 
the  See  of  Quincy,  and  that  of  New  Orleans  by  the  See  of  Natchi- 
toches. In  California,  San  Francisco  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  metropolis,  with  Monterey  as  a  suffiagan  See;  and  finally. 
Upper  Michigan  was  made  a  Vicariate-apostolic.  We  shall 
speak  of  these  different  erections  when  we  treat  of  the  provinces 
and  States  in  which  they  are  comprised.     Rome  deferred  acced- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


205 


lio- 

by 

:hi- 

of 

Illy, 

lall 

Ices 
led- 


ing  to  the  request  of  the  Council,  only  with  regard  to  raising  tho 
See  of  Boston  to  the  metropolitan  dignity,  and  with  regard  to 
making  Wilmington  a  See  and  Flonda  a  Vicariate-apostolic.* 

Before  separating,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  addressed  a  pas- 
toral letter  to  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  the  United  States.  It 
lays  down  rules  for  ecclesiastical  property,  and  declares  tliat  the 
administration  of  bodies  of  trustees  shall  be  subject  to  the  a})- 
proval  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  It  solemnly  condemns  secret 
societies  and  Free  Masonry,  calling  to  mind  the  decrees  of  the 
Holy  See  against  such  societies.  It  shows  tho  astonishing  pro- 
gress of  the  Church  in  America,  and  stimulates  the  cliarity  of  the 
faithful  to  meet  its  wants.  It  makes  it  a  duty  in  families  not  to 
crush  the  ecclesiastical  or  religious  vocations  of  their  childran, 
but  on  the  contrary,  to  encourage  them  by  a  good  education  and 
sound  principles.  Finally,  it  condemns  the  detestable  system  of 
the  public  schools,  where  children  of  all  denominations  are  ad- 
mitted, and  religion  scrupulously  excluded.  The  future  of  tho 
Church  is  in  the  Catholic  education  of  the  youth,  and  hence  the 

*  Rev.  Ilcnry  D.  Coskery  was  appointed  to  the  Sco  of  Portland,  and  ori 
his  declining,  the  Rev.  David  W.  Bacon,  of  Brooklyn,  was  elected  and  con- 
secrated at  New  York,  in  April,  1855. 

Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  elected  Bishop  of  Burlington,  Rev.  John 
Longhlin,  elected  Bishop  of  Brooklyn,  and  Rev.  James  Roosevelt  Eaylcy, 
elected  Bishop  of  Newark,  were  consecrated  at  New  York,  Oct.  30,  1853,  by 
Monseigneur  Bedini,  Nuncio  of  Ills  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX. 

Father  George  Carrell,  S.  J.,  elected  Bishop  of  Covington,  was  consecrated 
at  Cincinnati,  Nov.  1,  1853.  The  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher,  of  St.  Louis, 
was  elected  Bishop  of  Quincy,  and  the  diocese  is  still  administered  by  tho 
Bishop  of  Chicago.  The  Very  Rev.  Augustus  Martin,  elected  Bishop  of 
Nachitoches,  was  consecrated  Dec.  30,  1853. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor  was  at  first  transferred  to  Erie,  but  remained 
at  Pittsburg,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Josue  M.  Young  was  consecrated  April  23, 
1854. 

Rev.  Thaddeus  Amat,  elected  Bishop  of  Monterey,  was  consecrated  Marcli 
12,  1854. 

Rt.  Rev.  Frederick  Baraga,  Bishop  of  Amyzenie  in  part,  and  Vicar-apos- 
toho  of  Upper  Michigan,  was  consecrated  Nov.  1,  1853,  and  is  now  Bishop 
ofSautSt.  Mary's. 


in 


3  ''1 


■  i ; 


'i! 


(ii 


i  i 


» ,:  -^ 


200 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


1 1- 

f.   » 


enoniies  of  the  faith  seek  every  means  to  force  upon  CatholicA 
tlicir  schools  and  unchristian  systems. 

Since  Archbishop  Carroll,  six  archbishops  liavo  succeeded 
in  the  metropolitan  Sec  of  Baltimore,  and  each  of  them  has  had 
a  share  in  the  consoling  progress  of  religion  in  the  diocese,  as 
well  as  in  the  country  at  largo,  by  presiding  over  eight  Councils; 
and  thus  contributing  to  organize  and  develop  the  episcopal  hie- 
rarchy over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  United  States.  In 
1856,  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia  contain  eighty- 
eight  churches,  forty-five  other  stations,  one  hundred  and  thirty 
priests,  of  whom  seventy-three  perform  parocliial  duties,  and  two 
lumdred  and  two  levites  preparing  for  the  sanctuary.  Three  ec- 
clesiastical seminaries,  two  of  which  are  directed  by  Sulpitians,  a 
Jesuit  and  a  Redemptorist  novitiate,  four  colleges  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  one  directed  by  secular  priests,  five  academies  and 
boarding-schools  for  young  ladies,  directed  by  the  Visitation 
Nuns,  one  by  Sistei's  of  Charity,  and  many  Catholic  schools  for 
children  of  both  sexes,  show  the  care  with  which  the  youth  are 
.trained  in  science  and  piety.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  have  also 
an  orphan  asylum,  a  lunatic  asylum,  and  hospital,  capable  of 
liolding  one  hundred  and  fifty  sick  persons ;  the  Oblates  devote 
themselves  to  colored  children,  while  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame 
take  care  of  the  children  of  the  Germans ;  finally,  the  pious  Car- 
melites draw  down  God's  blessing  on  the  diocese,  where  works  of 
charity  and  educatioi'  have  multiplied  so  abundantly  within  sixty 
years. 


i 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


207 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


also 

of 


of 
xty 


PENNSYLVANIA (1680-1810). 

First  mlsfliuns  ftt  Pblladolphia,  Goslienhoppen,  Conowago,  Lancaster — Influence  ot 
French  Intervention  in  Becurlng  respoct  and  tolcriitlon  for  Catholicity— The  Augiw- 
Unians  In  Pennsylvania— The  Franciscans— Bclilsm  in  the  German  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity— Foundation  of  the  episcopal  See  of  Philudclphla. 

The  English  Jesuits  iu  Maryland  did  not  limit  their  care  to 
tlie  missions  regularly  assigned  to  them.  We  have  seen  them,  in 
the  ardor  of  their  zeal,  hrave  persecution  and  death  in  the  neigh- 
horing  colony  of  Virginia,  seeking  the  few  Catholics  scattered 
over  its  vast  surface.  The  same  apostolic  spint  led  to  Pennsyl- 
vania the  missionaiies  of  'the  Society  of  Jesus.  They  extended 
their  sphere  of  action  to  the  north  as  well  as  to  the  south  of  their 
residences;  hence,  after  sketching  the  history  of  the  Church  in 
the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  we  naturally  pass  to  the  relation  of  the 
commencement  of  the  faith  in  the  province  which  formed  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia. 

The  peaceful  sect  of  Fi-iends  reveres  as  its  founder  the  shoo- 
inaker,  George  Fox,  who  began  his  preaching  at  Nottingham  in 
1649.  Persecuted  by  the  partisans  of  Anglicanism,  the  Quakers 
resolved  to  seek  a  refuge  in  America,  as  the  Puritans  had  re- 
solved to  do  in  1620 ;  and  in  16*75  a  company  of  Friends  pur- 
chased of  Lord  Bei'keley  the  western  part  of  New  Jersey,  lying 
on  the  Delaware  river.  In  1680,  W^illiam  Penn  obtained  a  grant 
of  the  right  bank  of  the  same  river,  and  King  Charles  IL,  iu  his 
charter,  gave  the  new  colony  the  name  of  Pennsylvania. 

Notwithstanding  his  distinguished  birth  and  vast  fortune,  Penn, 


208 


TIIK   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


r    ! 


*i'i 


who  had  boon  oduoatod  at  the  Calvinist  coUogo  at  Saumur  in 
Franco,  was  st^hicod  l>y  tho  philaiilhropical  idoas  of  (ho  innova- 
tors. A  son  of  tho  bravo  Achnh'al  IVnn  who  had  wrostod  Ja- 
maica from  tho  Spaniards,  lie  had  inhoritod,  as  part  of  liis 
})atriniony,  a  largo  claim  against  tho  crown.  Charles  II.,  who 
spent  his  money  in  other  pursuits  than  tho  payment  of  his  debts 
or  those  of  tho  nation,  discharged  this  by  giving  William  Tenn  a 
colony,  and  tho  latter,  wishing  to  take  possession,  landed  iu 
America  in  October,  1082.* 

Tho  new  proprietor  explored  tho  country  on  the  Delaware,  in 
order  to  select  a  spot  suitable  for  tho  establishment  of  tho  now 
colony,  and  in  the  month  of  Jamiarj',  108.1,  he  laid  out  the  plan 
of  Philadelphia,  tho  City  of  Brotherly  Love.  Tho  preceding 
month,  tho  principal  settlors  had  mot  in  conventiort  at  Chester, 
and  under  the  guidance  of  Ponn,  had  enacted  as  the  law  of  I'onn- 
sylvania,  that  as  God  is  the  only  judge  of  man's  conscience,  every 
Christian,  without  distinction  of  sect,  should  bo  eligible  to  public 
employments.  Tho  only  restriction  ofi  individual  liberty  estab- 
lished by  tho  rigid  Quakers  was  tho  prohibition  of  all  balls,  thea- 
tres, masquerades,  cock  and  bull  fights  ;f  and  we  cannot  blame 
them  for  endeavoring  to  banish  these  occasions  of  vice  and  disor- 
der. Tho  toleration  of  William  Penn,  an  imitation  of  Lord  P)al- 
timore's,  is  a  striking  contrast  to  the  Protestant  fanaticism  which 
then  obtained  in  New  England  and  Virginia.  Tho  colony  in- 
creased raj)idly,  and  the  innnigratiou  was  not  confined  to  the 
natives  of  England  and  Germany,  where  the  doctrines  of  Quaker- 
ism had  made  progress.  Irish  Catholics  hoped  to  find  liberty  of 
worship  in  Pennsylvania,  nor  were  tliey  deceived  by  the  inten- 
tions of  the  honored  founder  of  that  colony ;  but  the  Protestant 
Bishop  of  London  had  inserted  iu  tho  charter  a  provision  guar- 
anteeing in  Pennsylvania  security  for  the  Church  oslabiislied  by 


»  Bancroft,  History  of  the  Uuitcd  States,  ii.  848. 


f  Idem. 


IN   THE    UNITED  8TATKS. 


2()!i 


ister, 

eun- 

ivery 

iLlic 

ttib- 

lieu- 

jiine 

lisor- 

r.ai- 

lich 
iii- 
tlie 

Iker- 

of 

Iten- 

Hllt 

lijir- 
by 


law,  and  ns  Aiif^licaiiisin  feels  sccuro  only  wlioro  ('alli<)li(!ity  is 
banisluMl  or  opprcsscil,  tliis  danst^  loiifr  fotfcred  t.lio  iiburty  of  tlio 
faithful  at  1'hila(Icli>liia  and  its  n(>i^lil)(>rhoo(l. 

Tlio  trno  faith  socnis,  howovor,  to  liavo  boon  tohnratod  in  I'onn- 
sylvania  from  tlio  very  first,  and  iiidced  i'onn  was  too  cIoho  a 
friend,  and  afterwards  too  devoted  a  subject  of  the  Catholic,  kinij, 
Janios  II.,  to  have  boon  unfriendly  to  (Jalholic^s.  The  first  (Cath- 
olic settlors  woro  doubtless  attend<Ml  by  a  ]»riest,  as  those  of  Mary- 
land had  been  by  Father  White;  for  in  1G80 — that  is,  thn^o 
years  after  the  founding  of  riiiladelphia — William  I'enn  mentions 
(III  old  2»'i(^st  nmong  the  inhabitants.  In  1708,  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed from  England  to  James  Logan  at  IMiiladelphia,  Penn, 
then  himself  under  the  suspicion  of  the  new  government  for  his 
attachment  to  James,  wrote :  "There  is  a  complaint  against  your 
government  tliat  you  suffer  public  Mass  in  a  scandalous  manner. 
Pray  send  the  matter  of  fact,  for  ill  use  is  made  of  it  against  us 
hero."  And  in  a  subsequent  letter  he  returns  to  it  in  these 
terms :  "  It  has  become  a  reproach  to  me  here,  with  the  ofIi(;ers 
of  the  crown,  that  you  have  suffered  the  scandal  of  Mfiss  to  bo 
l)ubli(!ly  celebrated." 

Bernard  U.  Campbell,  citing  these  curious  extracts  from  Wat- 
son's Annals  of  Philadelphia,  adds  that  the  first  chapel  where 
divine  worship  was  oftered  in  1G86  was  a  wooden  building  on 
the  northwest  comer  of  Front  and  Walnut  streets.*  Watson 
speaks  of  a  second  chapel,  built  before  1*736,  on  the  corner  of 
Chestnut  and  Second  streets,  and  says  that  it  was  built  "  for  u 
papal  chapel,  and  that  the  people  opposed  its  being  so  used  in  so 
])ublic  a  place." 

We  know,  too,  that  in  1*729  a  Catholic  cliapel  existed  at  a 
short  distance  from  Philadelphia,  on  the  road  from  Nicetown  to 
Frankfort,  and  that  it  was  built  by  Miss  Elizabeth  McGawley,  a 


(: 


*  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll.    Cath.  Mag.,  1845,  p.  252. 


'  j 


011 


;■ 


m  - 

ffii  i 
' t1  ^i  ' 


?  *  i 


ii 


!«=    i 


210 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


yoiiiitr  Irish  laily,  who  hiul  settled  in  that  part  with  a  nuinlHT  of 
licr  tenants.  It  is  probablo  that  this  chapel  was  consiiK'roil  as 
fc Milliner  |»iirt  of  Miss  McdawK^y's  houso,  which  enabled  the  Cath- 
olics to  n\ci!t  there  under  tho  protection  of  a  privuto  houso. 
Watson  remarks  that  in  a  field  noar  tho  site  of  this  ancient 
chapel,  a  marble  tombstone  bears  a  cross,  with  the  inscrij)tion — 
"John  Michael  Hrown  ob.  16  Dec.  A.  I).  1700.  R.  I.  IV  This 
was  th(!  priest  attached  to  the  mission,  and  his  tomb  did  not 
escape  the  fury  of  tho  fanatics  who  in  1844  set  tiro  to  two  of  the 
Catholic  churches  in  I'hiladelphia.  Tho  gravestono  was  broken 
by  those  iniscroants,  who  sought  to  glut  on  tho  memory  of  the 
dead  their  hatred  of  the  living. 

In  tlio  year  1730,  Fatlicr  Josiah  Greaton,  a  Jesuit,  was  sent 
from  Marylatid  to  Philadelphia,  and  according  to  a  tradition  pre- 
served by  Archbisliop  Neale,  ho  entered  on  his  duties  in  the 
following  interesting  way  :  Father  Greaton  knew  a  Catholic  at 
Lancaster  named  Doyle,  and  applied  to  him  for  tho  names  of 
some  of  the  faithful  in  rhiladelphia.  Doyle  named  a  wealthy 
old  lady,  remarkable  for  her  attachment  to  flio  faith,  and  the 
missionary  soon  called  upon  the  lady,  attired  in  tho  grave,  staid 
dross  of  a  Quaker.  After  various  questions  as  to  the  number  of 
Cltvistian  sects  in  tho  city.  Father  Greaton  made  himself  known, 
to  the  lady's  great  joy.  She  immediately  informed  her  Catholic 
neighbors  that  she  had  a  priest  in  tho  house.  He  first  exercised 
his  ministry  in  the  humble  chapel  at  the  corner  of  Front  and 
"Walnut  streets,  and  in  1733,  aided  by  the  liboraHty  of  uis  hostess, 
he  bought  a  lot  in  Fourth-street,  and  erected  tho  little  chapel  of 
St.  Joseph.  The  next  year  tho  authorities  took  umbrage  at  this, 
and  Governor  Gordon  made  a  report  to  the  Council  on  the  recent 
erection  in  Wahmt-street  of  a  Roman  Mass-house  for  the  public 
celebration  of  Mass,  c'ttrary  to  the  statute  of  William  III. 
Kalm,  the  Swedish  travel.  ■,  who  visited  Philadelphia  in  1749, 
says  that  the  Catholics  \\:..d  ■..  en ,  "  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 


\A 


IN   TlIK    I'NITKI)    STATLS. 


21 1 


of 

nt 

llic 

III. 

0 


town,  a  groat  houso,  which  is  well  u(Jornc<l  within,  and  liM  un 
organ."* 

"Father  fiivnton,"  says  Archliishop  Carroll,  in  a  nianuacrijrt 
Hiill  preserved,  "laid  the  foundation  of  that  cwiigregatioii  now  so 
flourishing.  He  lived  there  till  ahout  the  year  IT^O,  long  })efore 
whieh  he  huil  succeedecl  in  huilding  tho  old  chapel  which  is  still 
conti'"M  IS  CO  Mie  preshytery  of  that  town,  and  in  aas<'nd)ling  n 
nnmoiotH  Con  rremition,  which,  at  his  first  uointr  thith«'r,  did  not 
coii.ist  i.f  metre  than  ten  or  twelve  persons.  1  ri'niend)cr  to  have 
'oon  this  vciierahlo  man  at  the  liead  of  Ids  Hock  in  tho  year 
1748." 

Father  Ciroaton  was  assisted  for  sonio  time  at  I'hiladeljdiia  by 
Father  Henry  Nealo,  also  of  ins  Society,  who  died  there  in  I748,f 
and  being  himself  soon  after  recalled  to  Maryland,  was  succeeded 
by  Fatlier  Robert  Harding,  an  English  religious,  who  had  been 
on  the  Maryland  mission  since  Ili]2.  The  late  learned  Mr. 
Campbell  could  not  discover  where  tliis  Jesuit  wjus  employed  be- 
fore 1750.  Tn  that  year  wo  find  liim  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's, 
and  for  twenty  years  later  fulfilling  the  duties  of  that  post  with 
exemplary  zeal  and  fidelity.  As  a  stationary  assistant,  he  had 
from  1758  Father  Ferdinand  Farmer,  charged  especially  with  tho 
direction  of  the  German  population;  and  in  17G3,  Father  Hard- 
ing, finding  St.  Joseph's  no  longer  sufticed  for  the  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  Catholics,  began  the  erection  of  St.  Mary's  on 


*  Knlm's  Trnvclri.  Father  JoBiali  Grcnton,  born  about  1680,  entered  the 
Pocioty  r'i'  Jesus  on  tho  5tli  of  .July,  1708,  and  became  n  rrofesscd  Father, 
'  lurnst  4,  1719.  IIo  rcsideil  at  St.  Iiiifijo's,  in  Maryhiiid,  from  1721  to  1724. 
After  cxercisin^f  his  apostolate  at  IMiihulelpliia  for  nearly  twenty  years,  lie 
returned  to  Maryland,  and  died  at  Bol:cmia  on  tho  I'Jth  of  September, 
1752. 

t  Father  Ilcnry  Neale  belonged  to  the  excellent  family  which  gave  nine 
members  to  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  the  last  century.  He  returned  to 
America  from  Europe  in  17-10,  and  died  at  IMiiladelphia  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1748,  in  tho  forty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  tho  twenty-fourth  of  his  rcligioua 
career. 


212 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


gruimd  wliicli  he  had  purchased.*  Of  this  estimable  rehgious, 
Duche,  a  Protestant  olergyinan,  Nvriting  just  before  his  death, 
bears  the  following  testimony :  "  He  is  a  well-bred  gentleman, 
and  mueh  esteemed,  I  am  told,  by  all  denominations  of  Christians 
in  this  city,  for  his  prudence,  his  moderation,  liis  known  attach- 
ment to  British  liberty,  and  his  unaffected  pious  labors  among  the 
people  to  whom  he  officiates." 

In  1771,  Father  Robert  ^lolyneux  was  attached  to  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  and  directed  it  till  1787,  when  he  was  recalled  to  Mary- 
land.f  Father  Farmer  and  he  contracted  a  most  intimate  friend- 
ship, and  they  used  this  harmony  for  the  good  of  religion.  Both 
learned,  pious,  untiring,  they  shared  the  labors  of  the  ministry ; 
and  although  Father  Farmer  was  eighteen  years  older  than  his 
friend,  he  always  undertook  the  distant  missions,  as  Father  Moly- 
neux's  corpulence  rendered  travelling  very  difficult  for  him,  while 
the  former,  by  his  sermons,  produced  a  great  efiect  among  the 
Germans  and  Irish. 

While  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland  thus  zealously  occupied  the 
capi'tal  of  Pennsylvania,  they  did  not  neglect  the  country  parts; 
and  in  1741,  two  German  Fathers  were  sent  there  to  instruct  and 
convert  the  numerous  immigrants  who  arrived  from  all  parts  of 
Germany.  In  that  year,  Father  Theodore  Schneider,  a  native  of 
Bavaria,  founded  the  mission  of  Goshenhoppen,  forty-five  miles 


h'-  'i 


*  Caspipina'ts  Letters ;  London,  1777,  vol.  i.  p.  136.  Father  Kobcrt  Hard- 
ing died  at  Philudelpliia  on  tlie  Ist  of  September,  1772,  in  the  seventy-first 
year  of  his  \go.  Like  all  the  missionaries  of  that  epoch,  his  labors  were  not 
limited  to  the  city  where  lie  was  a  pastor.  He  went  to  a  f^reat  distance  to 
administer  the  sacraments,  and  certificates  of  baptism  celebrated  l>y  him  are 
found  in  New  Jersey. 

t  Father  Kobcrt  Molyneux,  born  in  Lancashire,  June  24,  1738,  a  novice  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1757,  was  sent  to  Maryland  soon  after  1  is  ordination, 
and  thence  to  Philadelphia  in  1771.  On  the  reorganization  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  1803,  he  became  the  first  Superior  of  Maryland,  and  was  twice 
President  of  Georgetown  College.  He  refused  to  liooome  Coadjutor  of  Bal- 
timore, and  died  at  Georgetown,  December  0th,  ISOS. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


213 


be 


from  Philaclel}>hia.  lie  lived  tliere  in  the  utmost  poverty  for 
more  than  twenty  years ;  lie  built  a  church  there  in  1745,  and 
ministered  to  a  very  extensive  district,  going*  once  a  month  to 
Philadelphia  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the  Germans,  till  Father 
Farmer  was  stationed  in  the  residence  in  that  city.  So  respected 
was  Father  Schneider  among  the  Germans,  even  the  Protestant 
part,  that  the  Mennonites  and  Ilernhutters  generously  aided  him 
to  build  his  church  at  Goshenhoppen.  llis  apostolic  journeys  led 
liim  to  the  interior  of  New  Jersey,  where  fanaticism  at  first  sought 
his  life.  He  was  several  times  shot  at ;  but  these  attempts  to 
shorten  his  days  diminished  nothing  of  his  zeal,  knd  he  at  last 
made  his  visits  objects  of  desire,  even  to  Protestants,  towards 
whom,  with  infinite  charity,  he  fulfilled  the  functions  of  bodily 
physician,  Avhen  he  could  not  become  the  physician  of  their  souls. 
A  relic  of  this  venerable  missionary  is  preserved,  which  attests 
alike  his  poverty  and  his  industry.  It  is  a  complete  copy  of  the 
Roman  Missal,  in  his  handwriting,  stoutly  bound ;  and  the  holy 
Jesuit  must  have  been  destitute  of  every  thing,  to  copy  so  pa- 
tiently a  quarto  volume  of  seven  hundred  images  of  print.  Father 
Schneider  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  on  the  10th  of  July, 
1764,*  having  been  visited  in  his  illness  the  previous  month  by 
Father  Farmer ;  and  we  believe  that  his  successor  at  Goshenhop- 
pen was  Father  Ritter.  At  least.  Father  Molyneux,  in  a  letter  to 
Father  Carroll,  dated  December  7th.,  1784,  speaks  of  Father  Rit- 
ter as  ha\ing  been  for  some  years  at  Goshenhoppen,  where  the 
congregation  numbered  five  hundred  comnumicants.f  In  1747, 
Father  Henry  Neale  had  purchased  at  Goshenhoppen  one  hun- 

*  Father  Theodore  Schneider,  born  in  1703,  and  a  Jesuit  from  1721,  had. 
been  professor  of  pliilosophy  and  polemics  at  Liege,  and  also  Rector  Mag- 
njficus  of  tlie  University  of  Heidelburg,  before  coming  to  America.  Hia 
profession  dates  from  1720. 

+  Tliis  Fatlier  is  ajiparently  the  oncwliom  Oliver  mentions  as  John  Baptist 
Butter  or  Kuyter,  a  Belgian,  who  joined  the  English  province  about  1763, 
and  was  sent  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died,  Feb.  3,  1786. 

0 


.1 


j-i 


)  i^ 


l^i  ■! 


;!  I 


1' 

t   ■ 

i 

'■ 

-;i,; 

214 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


dred  and  twenty-one  acres  of  land,  fur  wliich  he  paid  two  liuu- 
dred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling.  The  next  year  Father  Greaton 
paid  the  2)i't)piietors  of  Pennsylvania  fifty-one  pounds  for  four 
hundred  and  seventy-three  acres  in  the  same  place,  and  this 
property  still  belongs  to  the  mission  of  Goshenhoppen,  which  tho 
Jesuits  continue  to  serve. 

In  1741,  Father  William  Wapeler,*  the  companion  of  Father 
Schneider,  founded  the  mission  of  Conewago,  on  the  stream  of 
that  name,  thus  again  associating  this  local  term  with  the  mis- 
sions of  Catholicity,  as  his  Society  had  already  done  on  the  Mo- 
hawk and  St.  Lawrence.  "  He  remained,"  says  Father  Carroll, 
"  about  eight  years  in  America,  and  converted  or  reclaimed  many 
to  the  faith  of  Christ,  but  was  forced  by  bad  health  to  return  to 
Europe."  He  retired  to  Ghejit,  and  then  to  Bruges,  where  this 
worthy  Jesuit  closed  his  career  in  1781,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 
Another  celebrated  missionary  of  Conewago  is  Father  Pellentz,f 
whose  memory  is  in  veneration  throughout  Pennsylvania,  and  we 
find  that  in  1784  he  numbered  over  a  thousand  communicants  at 
his  mission.  In  1791,  we  find  him  at  the  synod  of  Baltimore, 
filling  the  post  of  Vicar-general  of  Bishop  CaiToll's  immense 
diocese. 

In  1741,  Father  Waj'Kjler  had  bought  land  at  Lancaster,  with 
the  intention  of  building  a  chapel  there.J;  Ten  years  after. 
Father  Farmer  Avas  attached  to  this  residence,  and  remained 
there  in  all  the  poverty  and  humility  of  an  apostle  till  1758.§ 

*  Fatlicr  William  Wapelcr  or  Wappeler  was  born  in  Westphalia,  January 
22,  1711,  and  entered  tlie  Society  of  Jesus  in  172>.  Oliver's  Collection, 
p.  210. 

+  Father  James  Pellcntz  was  horn  in  Germany,  January  19,  1727,  entered 
the  Society  in  1744,  and  made  his  profession  in  1750.     Idem. 

X  In  1734,  in  consequence  of  fears  of  a  war  witii  France,  the  missionary  at 
Lancaster  became  an  object  of  suspicion,  and  the  matter  was  brought  before 
the  Council  by  Governor  Gordon.     Watson's  Annals,  ii.  256. 

§  Father  Ferdinand  Fanner  luxd  translated  into  English  Iv'i  German  name, 
Bteenmeyer.    He  wat?  born  in  the  then  Circle  of  Suabia,  Oct.  13,  1720,  eu- 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


215 


We  have  seen  lilin  exorcising  at  a  later  date  the  ministry  at 
Philadelphia,  and  to  him  New  York  is  indebted  for  ihe  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  Catholic  congregation  in  that  city.  In  1*784,  wo 
find  Father  Geisler*  at  Lancaster  with  a  congregation  of  seven 
hundred  communicants ;  and  the  country  parts  of  Pennsylvania 
have  thus  seen  the  holy  mysteries  celebrated  for  more  than  a 
century  in  the  three  chapels  of  Goshenhoppen,  Conewago,  and 
Lancaster.  From  the  origin  of  these  missions,  they  were  in  part 
sustained  by  a  pious  legacy  of  an  English  Catholic,  Sir  John 
James,  whose  will  was  attacked ;  but  as  the  secret  of  his  trusts 
was  preserved,  the  poor,  and  especially  the  poor  Catholics  of 
Pennsylvania,  were  not  deprived  of  his  charitable  aid.  The  sum 
allotted  to  the  American  mission  was  one  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling ;  but  as  the  principal  was  invested  in  French  funds,  his  pre- 
cious resource  often  in  time  of  war  foiled  the  poor  Catholics  of 
Pennsylvania  and  their  still  poorer  missionaries.  The  latter  must 
have  been  in  great  need,  for  they  could  not  show  their  parishion- 
ers the  same  touching  hospitality  then  practised  in  Maryland. 
There  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Catholics  who  came  fasting  in 
order  to  approach  the  sacraments,  to  take  their  meal  with  the 
missionary;  and  the  distance  which  they  often  had  to  go  to 
reach  the  nearest  chapel  showed  the  propriety  of  this  patriarchal 
custom.  The  Pennsylvania  missions  received  aid  from  those  of 
Maryland,  by  virtue  of  instructions  given  by  the  Provincial  of 
England  on  the  2d  of  April,  1*759  :  "The  Superior,  as  a  common 


■I  I 


Id 

lit 

re 


tercd  the  novitiate  at  Landspcrgre  in  1743,  and  became  a  professed  of  the 
four  vows  Ln  1761.  He  soiij^lit  tlie  Cliina  mission,  but  to  his  disappointment 
was  transferred  to  the  Eiifrlish  province,  and  sent  to  Maryhnid  in  1752.  He 
died  at  Pliiladelphia  in  1781,  and  Fatlier  Molyneux  pronounced  his  funeral 
oration,  paying  a  striking  homage  to  the  virtue  of  tlie  holy  missionary. 
Bisliop  Bayley  declares  that  he  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity.  Catholic  Cliureh 
in  New  York,  p.  42. 

*  Luke  Geislcr,  born  in  (irennany  m  1735,  w;ia  sent  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  there,  August  11,  1786. 


1 

i}  i  > 

f.  t 

[  'i 

f 

' 

* " 

'M 

1^ 

I    ■; 

ill  ; 


210 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Father,  must,"  says  Father  Corhie,  "  assist  tho  iieeily  out  of  the 
fiurphis  of  tlie  more  opulent  settlements,  putting  all,  both  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Mainland,  in  tho  vita  communis,  or  the  ordinary 
>vay  of  living,  and  succor  them,  in  their  incidental  losses  and 
burdens,  with  the  bowels  of  true  Christian  and  religious  charity,"'* 

Such  was  the  precarious  condition  of  Pennsylvaniji,  when,  in 
1*784,  Father  John  Carroll  visited  Philadelphia.  He  had  re- 
cently been  appointed  Superior  of  the  clergy  of  the  United  States, 
with  power  to  administer  confirmation,  and  he  came  to  confer 
that  sacrament  on  the  Catholics,  as  well  as  to  ascertain  the  condi- 
tion and  wants  of  religion  there.  The  sacrament  of  confirmation 
had  never  before  been  conferred  in  any  city  in  the  land ;  many  a 
person  advanced  in  years  now  pressed  forward  to  receive  with 
child  and  grandchild  that  sacrament  whose  vivifying  strength 
they  had  so  often  desired ;  and  the  remembrance  of  that  confirm- 
ation has  been  perpetuated  to  our  day. 

The  faithful  were  then  scattered  all  over  the  State,  rendering 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments  diflScult,  and  each  mission- 
ary had  under  his  care  a  district  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  long  by  thirty-five  broad.  Father  Carroll  was  satisfied 
with  the  piety  and  regularity  of  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia ; 
he  found  them  well  instructed  in  their  religion,  but  he  saw 
that  the  two  churches,  St.  Maiy's  and  St.  Joseph's,f  were  not  suf- 
ficient for  the  size  of  the  congregations,  and  that  the  pastors 
required,  as  they  truly  said,  the  aid  of  new  priests.  He  also  saw 
that  the  prejudice  against  Catholics  was  declining;  and  Mr. 
Campbell  admits  that  this  result  was  due  in  part  to  the  stay  at 


*  Campbell's  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll.  U.  S.  Catholic  Maga- 
zine, iv.  255. 

t  The  Abb6  Robin,  a  chaplain  in  BochambeauV'  army,  says :  "  The  Roman 
Catholics  have  two  chapels  in  Philadelphia,  governed  by  a  Jesuit  and  a 
German.  They  estimate  the  number  of  their  flocks  at  eleven  hundred  or 
twelve  hundred." 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


217 


lan 

a 

or 


Philadelphia  of  the  representatives  of  France  and  Spain,  as  well 
as  to  the  presence  of  the  staff  of  the  French  ai-my  and  fleet.  The 
chaplains  of  the  army  had  during  the  war  celebrated  Mass  in  the 
city  churches;  and  Congress  more  than  once  attended  to  do 
lionor  to  the  French  officers.  Intelligent  Protestants,  disposed  at 
first  from  courtesy  to  respect  the  creed  of  their  allies,  learned  at 
the  same  time  to  tolerate  it  in  their  fellow-citizens.  Catholics 
had,  moreover,  displayed  their  patriotism  in  the  Revolution.  We 
have  shown  it  in  Maryland  in  the  illustrious  family  of  Carroll. 
At  Philadelphia,  Moylan,  Fitzsimmons,  men  of  eminence,  gave 
the  army  and  Congress  striking  marks  of  their  courage  and 
patriotism,  as  well  as  of  their  devotedness  to  the  true  faith.  Com- 
modore Bariy,  the  most  celebrated  naval  commander  of  the  Revo- 
lution, was  a  sincere  Catholic,  who,  at  his  death,  made  a  consid- 
erable bequest  for  pious  uses.  The  ranks  of  the  American  army 
contained  many  Irishmen — one  of  the  Pennsylvania  regiments 
even  got  the  name  of  the  Irish  Brigade — and  when  the  Catholics 
in  a  body  addressed  Washington,  congratulating  him  on  his 
election  to  the  Presidency,  the  General  did  them  but  justice  when 
in  his  reply  he  said :  "  I  presume  that  your  fellow-citizens  will 
not  forget  the  patriotic  part  which  you  took  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  Revolution  and  the  establishment  of  their  govern- 
ment, or  the  important  assistance  which  they  received  from  a 
nation  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  is  professed."* 

At  the  close  of  the  war  a  solemn  Te  Deum  was  chanted  in  St. 
Joseph's  Church,  at  the  request  of  the  Marquis  de  la  Luzerne, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Court  of  France.  He  invited  to 
it  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  Assembly  and  State 
Council  of  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  the  principal  generals  and 
distinguished  citizens.  Washington  was  present,  as  well  as  La- 
fayette, and  the  Abbe  Bandale,  Chaplain  of  the  Embassy  of  His 

*  Sparks'  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington,  xii, 
10 


218 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


it  'i  t 


r 


I;    i 


Most  Christian  Majesty,  addressed  a  most  eloquent  discourse  to 
the  crowded  audience. 

"  Who  but  He,"  exclaimed  the  sacred  orator,  "  He  in  whose 
hands  are  the  hearts  of  men,  could  inspire  the  allied  troops  with 
the  friendship,  the  confidence,  the  tenderness  of  brothers  ?  How 
is  it  that  two  nations  once  divided,  jealous,  inimical,  and  nursed 
in  reciprocal  prejudices,  are  now  become  so  closely  united  as  to 
form  but  one  ?  Worldlings  would  say  it  is  the  wisdom,  the  vir- 
tue, and  moderation  of  their  chiefs ;  it  is  a  great  national  interest 
which  has  performed  this  prodigy.  They  will  say  that  to  the 
skill  of  generals,  to  the  courage  of  the  troops,  to  the  activity  of 
the  whole  army,  we  must  attribute  this  splendid  success.  Ah ! 
they  are  ignorant  that  the  combining  so  many  fortunate  circum- 
stances is  an  emanation  from  the  all-perfect  Mind  :  that  courage, 
that  skill,  that  activity,  bear  the  sacred  impression  of  Him  who  is 
divine.  .  .  .  Let  us  beseech  the  God  of  mercy  to  shed  on  the  council 
of  the  king  of  France,  your  ally,  that  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  justice  and 
of  mercy,  which  has  rendered  his  reign  glorious.  Let  us  likewise 
entreat  the  God  of  wisdom  to  maintain  in  each  of  the  States  that 
intelligence  by  which  the  United  States  are  inspired.  .  .  .  Let  us 
offer  Him  pure  hearts,  unsullied  by  private  hatred  or  public  dis- 
sension ;  and  let  us,  with  one  will  and  one  voice,  pour  forth  to 
the  Lord  that  hymn  of  praise  by  which  Christians  celebrate  their 
gratitude  and  his  glory — Te  Deum  Laudamus^'^ 

We  have  already  said  it.  Protestantism  can  lay  no  claim  to 
the  honor  of  having  established  the  toleration  which  Catholics 
enjoyed  in  the  United  States  after  the  Revolution.  Policy  and 
necessity  marked  out  the  line  of  conduct  which  was  adopted ; 
and  we  are  not  alone  in  our  opinion.  An  American  historian' 
says,  "  France,  Catholic  France,  was  now  solicited ;  she  was 
asked,  and  not  in  vain,  to  lend  her  armies  to  the  cause  of  the 


'*! 


fm 


*  The  Catholics  during  the  Kevolution. 
May,  1855. 


Catliolic  Herald,  Philadelphia, 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


219 


\hn  to 
Itliolics 
Icy  and 

[opted ; 
storiau 
le  was 
I  of  the 

ielpliia, 


?-«« 


>"* 


Revolution.  Frencli  troops  landed  at  Boston,  and  amid  the  ridi- 
cule of  the  English  party,  the  selectmen  of  the  capital  of  New 
England  followed  a  crucifix  through  the  streets !  A  French  fleet 
enters  Narragansett  Bay,  and  a  law  excluding  Catholics  from 
civil  rights  is  repealed !  French  troops  are  at  Philadelphia,  and 
Congress  goes  to  Mass !  Necessity  compelled  this  adaptation  of 
the  outer  appearance,  and,  perhaps,  to  some  extent,  calmed  the 
rampant  prejudice  of  former  days.  With  a  Catholic  ally,  the 
government  could  not  denounce  Catholicity.  In  the  constitution 
adopted,  it  washed  its  hands  of  the  matter,  and  Congress  refused 
to  assume,  as  one  of  its  powers,  a  right  to  enter  the  sphere  of  re- 
ligion. It  was  left  to  the  several  States  to  have  any  religion  or 
none  but  the  general  government,  the  only  medium  of  commu- 
nication with  foreign  States,  could  always  profess  its  tolerance, 
even  though  twelve  of  the  thirteen  should  proscribe  the  faith  of 
Columbus." 

In  1784,  at  the  time  of  Father  John  Carroll's  visit  to  Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania  probably  numbered  seven  thousand  Catholics, 
and  this  is  the  estimate  given  by  the  Superior  to  Cardinal  Anto- 
nelli  in  the  following  year.  In  a  letter  dated  July  22,  1788,  and 
addressed  to  some  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  Father  Carroll  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  that  an  episcopal  See  would  soon  be  required 
for  the  United  States,  and  that  Philadelphia  Avould  be  the  favored 
city  :  "  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  bishop  will  be  granted 
to  us  in  a  few  months,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Phila- 
delphia will  be  the  episcopal  See."  This  conjecture  was  probably 
based  on  the  fiict  that  Congress  then  held  its  sessions  in  that  city, 
and  that  Philadelphia  was  considered  as  the  capital  of  the  United 
States ;  but,  as  we  have  elsewhere  seen,  the  clergy  summoned  to 
deliberate  on  the  choice  of  the  episcopal  city,  gave  the  preference 
to  Baltimore.  Himself  created  bishop  in  1790,  Dr.  Carroll  gov- 
erned Philadelphia  by  a  Vicar-general,  Father  Francis  Anthony 
Fleming,  an  able  controvertist,  who  was  succeeded  in  his  import- 


220 


TUE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I. 

.  f- . 

% 

' 

|:: 

\ 

\ 

'  .'1 

ant  post  by  Father  Leonard  Nealc.  Father  Fleming  was  one  of 
the  first  of  the  Catholic  clergy  to  defend  the  Catholic  cause  when 
assailed.  In  1782,  Mr.  Miers  Fisher,  a  member  of  the  Assembly, 
having  remarked  in  a  discussion  that  lotteries  were  like  the  Pope's 
indulgences,  "'  forgiving  and  permitting  sins  to  raise  money,"  Mr. 
Fk'un'ng  called  attention  to  it  as  unworthy  of  a  man  of  standing ; 
and  the  member,  with  a  degree  of  courtesy  rare  in  our  days, 
apologized  for  any  unintentional  offence  which  he  might  have 
given  the  Catholic  body ;  but  a  new  assailant  having  come  for- 
ward with  the  oft-repeated  tale  of  the  Pope's  chancery.  Father 
Fleming  replied  by  citing  an  equally  authentic  Protestant  tariff", 
in  which  the  crime  of  "  inventing  any  lies,  however  abominable 
or  atrocious,  to  blacken  the  Papists,"  is  forgiven  for  the  moderate 
sum  of  one  penny;  and  "setting  fire  to  a  popish  church,"  two 
pence ;  which  has  since  proved  a  higher  rate  than  tlie  Avitty 
Father  set  down.  The  anonymous  assailant  renewed  the  attack, 
and  unable  to  produce  any  evidence  in  favor  of  the  pretended 
list,  attempted  to  raise  new  issues,  charging  Catholics  with  idola- 
try, persecution,  etc. ;  but  Father  Fleming  held  him  to  his  asser- 
tion, and  after  refuting  that,  disposed  of  his  other  charges, 
completely  silencing  the  accuser.  To  remove  prejudice  still 
more,  he  published  the  letters  in  book  form,  for  wider  and  perma- 
nent circulation.  In  reply  to  the  charge  of  persecution  and  in- 
tolerance, he  cited  the  penal  laws  of  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland,  and  adds :  "  But  the  greatest  wonder  of  all  remains  to 
be  mentioned.  Tell  it  not  in  Gath — publish  it  not  in  the  streets 
of  Askalon — lest  the  bigots  rejoice  and  the  daughters  of  popery 
triumph.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  among  the  en- 
lightened, talented,  and  liberal  Protestants  of  America,  at  the 
very  instant  when  the  American  soil  was  drinking  up  the  best 
blood  of  Catholics,  shed  in  defence  of  her  freedom  ;  when  the 
Gallic  flag  was  flying  in  her  ports  and  the  Gallic  soldiers  fighting 
her  battles,  then  were  constitutions  framed  in  several  States  de- 


v«* 


m 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


221 


tlie 


V<HI 


grading  those  very  C;itliulics,  and  excluding  them  from  certain 
ofllccs.  O  shame,  where  is  thy  bhish !  0  gratitude  !  if  thou 
hast  a  tear,  let  it  fall  to  deplore  this  indelible  stigma !" 

Father  Fleming  and  Father  Gressel,  his  companion,  gave  a 
still  better  proof  of  the  claims  of  Catholicity  in  the  yellow  fever 
which  desolated  Philadelphia  in  1793.'*  While  that  epidemic 
was  making  its  fearful  ravages  iu  that  city,  these  two  Catholic 
priests,  as  usual,  braved  the  dise.'ise,  and  devoted  themselves  to  the 
care  and  consolation  of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  both  laid  down 
their  lives  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties — true  martyrs  of  charity.f 

In  1790  the  faithful  at  Philadelphia  beheld  the  arrival  among 
them  of  Dr.  Matthew  Carr,  a  Hermit  of  St.  Augustine,  belonging 
to  one  of  the  oldest  religious  orders  in  Christianity,  and  a  com- 
munity of  which  has  for  the  last  sixty-five  years  uninterruptedly 
exercised  the  holy  ministry  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Irish  and 
English  Augustinians  were  erected  into  a  distinct  province,  early 
in  the  fifteenth  century ;  and  other  houses  were  very  numerous 
at  the  epoch  of  Henry  VIII.'s  religious  rebellion.  When  the  first 
fury  of  the  persecution  had  spent  itself,  the  Augustinians  who  had 

*  From  Wansey'a  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  of  Ainor- 
ioa,  Salisbury,  179G,  we  find  that  of  fourteen  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
burials  in  Philadelpiiia,  from  August  1st,  1792,  to  August  1st,  1793,  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  were  in  St.  Mary's,  twenty-nine  in  Holy  Trinity,  and 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four  in  I'ottersfleld;  and  tliatin  the  followinir  year, 
that  of  tlie  fever,  out  of  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-two,  tliree 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  buried  in  St.  Mary's,  sixty-six  in  Holy  Trinity, 
and  fifteen  hundred  and  ninety-eight  in  Pottersfield. 

t  Father  Lawrence  Louis  Gressel  was  born  at  Kumansfelden,  in  Bavaria, 
August  18, 1753.  During  the  six  years  which  he  spent  in  Pliiladclpliia  ho  was 
distinguished  for  piety,  zeal,  and  mildness.  Bishop  Carroll  had  jiroposcd  him 
at  Rome  as  his  coadjutor,  and  he  would  doubtless  have  been  aiipoiuted  but 
for  his  premature  death,  which  took  place  in  October,  1793.  The  Rev.  Fran- 
cis Anthony  Fleming  was  apparently  a  Father  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  but 
his  name  does  not  appear  in  Oliver's  collection,  llis  little  work  is  entitled 
"  The  Calumnies  ofVerus;  or.  Catholics  vindicated  from  certain  old  slan- 
ders lately  revived;  in  a  series  of  letters,  published  in  ditferont  gazettes 
at  Philadelphia,  collected  and  revised  by  Vcrax,  with  the  addition  of  a  pre- 
face and  a  few  notes.    Philadelphia:  Johnson  &  Justice,  1792." 


!  1 


'i  I 


-.11 


t  •      !  I      i 


^■i 


222 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


not  left  Tivland  robuilt  twelve  houses  on  the  ruins  of  their  forinei 
monasteries,  and  at  the  present  time  some  forty  of  these  reliijious 
display  their  zeal  in  the  first  missions.  In  England  the  Wiiito 
Friars  hnvo  not  reappeared  since  the  formation  of  t!io  Ciiurch  by 
law  established.  Those  in  Ireland  long  sent  their  novices  to  the 
convents  of  France  and  Italy,  to  receive  the  solid  and  extended 
instruction  which  the  misery  of  the  times  prevented  their  receiv- 
ing at  home ;  thus  Dr.  Carr  was  brought  up  in  the  Augustinian 
colleges  of  Paris  and  Bordeaux.  lie  was  afterwards  for  several 
years  attached  to  a  church  of  his  order  in  Dublin,  but  in  IVOO 
came  to  Philadelphia,  and  built  St.  Augustine's  'Church,  Avhich 
was  opened  to  worship  and  solemnly  dedicated  in  1800.  Doctor 
Carr  was  successively  assisted  in  the  ministry  by  the  Augustinians, 
Rossiter,  Staunton,  Larissey,  and  Hurley.  He  died  in  1819,  and 
his  successor,  as  Superior,  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hurley,  who  died  in 
1837.  Since  then  the  Commissary-general  in  the  United  States 
of  the  Order  of  Hermits  of  St.  Augustine  has  been  the  Very  Rev. 
P.  E.  Moriarty.  Besides  their  church  in  Philadelphia,  the  Au- 
gustinians  serve  the  parish  churches  of  St.  Dennis  at  Havcrford, 
St.  Charles  at  Kellyville,  St.  Mary's  at  Chestnut  Hill,  and  St. 
Nicholas  of  Toleutino  at  Atlantic  City,  the  last-named  place  being 
in  the  diocese  of  Newark.  They  have  also  founded  the  monas- 
tery and  flourishing  college  of  Villanova,  where  young  men  re- 
ceive a  finished  and  Catholic  education.* 

*  \Yo  are  indebted  for  these  details  to  tlic,  kindness  of  tlie  Very  Kev. 
Rather  Moriarty,  to  wliom  we  express  our  acknowledgment.  St.  Augustine 
founded  the  Order  of  Hermits,  in  Africa,  in  388,  and  pave  them  a  rule. 
They  were  dispersed  by  the  Vandals  in  428,  and  some  took  refuge  in  Sar- 
dinia, Naples,  and  Languedoc,  where  they  founded  monasteries.  St. 
Patrick,  who  had  embraced  the  rule  in  Tuscany,  before  his  consecration, 
introduced  it  into  Ireland,  where  Augustinian  communities  became  very 
numerous.  Till  1256  they  had  no  common  centre,  but  at  that  time  Pope 
Alexander  IV.  united  them  all,  and  gave  them  a  constitution.  The  first 
General  was  Lanfranc  Septala,  and  since  then  the  Prior-general  has  always 
resided  at  Rome.  The  Ursulines,  Hospital  Nuns,  and  many  congrcgationB 
of  Sisters,  also  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine. 


•A^ 


■I.; 


ii 


w 


*h* 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


223 


At  the  outset  of  this  century,  the  reimsylvaniii  inisHion  re- 
ceived !i  precious  reinforcement  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Ach)lphu8 
Louis  do  Biirth,  who  was  appointed  to  tht^  mission  of  Lancaster, 
and  tliero  displayed  the  most  admirahlc  zeal.*  In  1802  he  had 
as  assistant  the  Kev.  Micliael  Ei^an,  an  Irish  Franciscan  of  tho 
8ti'ict  Ohservanco,  who  had  rccentlv  arrived  in  tho  United  States, 
and  both,  in  their  poverty  as  missionaries,  found  aid  and  assist- 
ance in  a  generous  Catholic,  Mr.  John  Kisdal,  whose  hand  was 
over  open  in  the  cause  of  religion.  A  lett«'r  from  Father  Egau 
to  IJishop  Carroll,  dated  Lancaster,  February  10,  1803,  speaks  of 
this  zealous  gentleman,  and  Father  Achillo  CJuidce,  in  his  bio- 
graphical notice  of  Father  De  Cloriviore,  says  that  that  celebrated 
Jesuit,  while  cure  near  8t.  Malo,  in  Urittany,  from  1780  to  1790, 
converted  several  Protestants  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  among 
others,  Mr.  John  Risdal.  "The  return  of  this  gentleman  to  the 
true  faith  was  a  precious  conquest  for  religion,  to  which  he  ren- 
dered important  service,  especially  in  Lancaster  and  I'hiladelphia, 
in  the  United  Statos."f 

Dy  an  apostolic  rescript,  of  September  20, 1804.  Father  Michael 
Egan  had  been  authorized  to  found  a  province  of  his  Order  in  tho 
United  States,  but  his  project  had  no  success.  The  young  Fran- 
ciscan was  then  appointed  to  St.  ALary's  Church,  Philadelphia, 
and  there  won  the  confidence  of  Bishop  Carroll.  The  Bishop  of 
Baltimore  beheld  his  administration  embarrassed  at  Philadelphia 
by  the  most  painful  difficulties.     ITe  had  to  rosisc  the  pretensions 

*  Adolpli  Louis  do  Barth  was  born  at  Munster  in  1774,  studied  at  Beliay, 
and  entered  the  seminary  of  Strashiirg.  lie  was  ecarccly  ordained  when  the 
Revolution  drove  him  from  France,  and  even  from  Munstcr,  wlience  ho  re- 
paired to  America.  ITc  was  at  first  employed  in  Maryland,  but  was  poon 
sent  to  Lancaster.  lie  was  Vicar-general  and  administrator  from  1814  to 
182i">,  then  pastor  of  Conevvago,  and  in  1828,  rector  of  St.  John's,  Baltimore. 
In  1S;^3  liis  infirmities  and  years  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Georgetowa 
College,  where  he  died  piously,  in  October,  1844. 

t  Guidee,  Vio  du  P.  Joseph  Varin  et  de  quelquea  autres  Peres  Jesuites. 
Paris,  1854,  p.  2oO. 


i 


in 


)■ 


\ 

'I  ( 


111 


:| 


HA 
'I 


H 


'  i 


224 


'JIIK   CATIIOIaC   ("Ul'KCII 


oHlu*  tiiistccH  of  tlu!  (icriiiaii  Climrli  of  i\n>  Holy  Trinity,  wiio 
ciaiinod  llio  ri^lit  of  piitronufj;*',  ntid  wlio  foiiicnti'd  n  .schism  in 
which  they  were  cncoiirji^^cd  by  two  interdicted  priests.  At  hisf, 
nfter  five  yeiirs'  rebellion,  the  trustees  submitted  to  the  <'j»isc(>pal 
authority  in  1802.  In  the  month  of  December,  1800,  liishoj) 
Carroll  addressed  Cardinal  di  Tietro,  insisting  on  the  necessity  ot 
founding  four  now  Sees — Pliila<lel|»hia,  Now  York,  Boston,  and 
]Jardstown.  Tins  VII.  decreed  this  foundation  by  his  brief  oi 
April  8,  1801),  and  api)ointed  Father  Michael  Egan  Bishop  o 
Philadelphia;  but  wo  luivo  already  told  by  what  a  train  of  actci- 
deut8  and  misfortunes  the  bulls  of  institution  were  prevented  frou\ 
reaching  Baltimore  till  September,  1810. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

DIOCEHK    OF    I'HII.AUKM'HIA (1810-18,34). 

Th©  Et.  Rev.  Mtohnel  Ejrfin,  first  Msliop—Vpry  Kov.  Louis  de  Hurt)),  ndminlstrator— 
Rt  llev.  Henry  Coiiwell,  Bccond  bisho|) — Schism  of  St.  Mary's  Cluirch — Very  llev. 
■Williotn  Mathew.s,  mlnilnlstnitor— Kt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrlok,  condjutor,  tlien  tliird 
bishop— IleU(,'ions  condition  of  tiio  diocese  in  1S34. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Egan  was  consecrated  October  28th, 
1810,  in  St.  Peter's  Cathedi'al,  Baltimoi-e.  Archbishop  Can-oil 
ofBciated  on  that  occasion,  assisted  by  his  coadjutor.  Bishop 
Neale,  and  Father  William  Vincent  Harold,  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic,  preacliod  tlie  usual  sermon.  The  new  prelate  had  been 
recommended  for  this  See  to  the  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, and  was  selected  by  Ai'clibishop  Cari'oll  "as  a  truly  pious 
and  learned  religious,  remarkable  for  his  great  humility,  but 
deficient,  pcrliaps,  in  tirmness,  and  without  gi'eat  experience  in  the 


i 


IN    THE   UNITKD  8TATKS. 


222 


n. 


•v* 


direction  of  ufTfiirs."  l-'or  tht'so  roasotis  the  natno  of  Father  E^mii 
wn.s  only  second  on  tho  list  sent  to  Canlinal  di  I'ietro,  althoiij;li 
ut  tho  close  of  the  ' 'tier,  tho  prelate  declared  that  he  pret't-rretl 
Iiim  to  tho  others.  And  Archbishop  Carroll  expressed  himself 
still  more  categorically  in  a  letter  of  June  17,  18U7,  vvhero  ho 
said  of  Father  K^an :  "He  is  u  nnm  of  ahout  fifty,  who  seems 
cndowe<l  with  all  the  (pialities  to  dis(;harg()  with  perfection  tlirt 
functions  of  the  episcopacy,  except  that  he  lacks  robust  health, 
greater  experience,  and  a  greater  degree  of  rtrmiiess  in  his  dispo- 
sition. IIo  is  a  learned,  modest,  humble  priest,  who  maintains 
the  spirit  of  his  Onler  in  his  whole  conduct."* 

JJishop  l'>gan  governed  his  diocese  with  zeal  and  piety;  but, 
according  to  the  i)rognostic  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  he  was  deti- 
cient  in  necessary  firmness,  as  lie  showed  in  a  very  serious  con- 
troversy with  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  his  cathedral. 
These  trustees  thus  })reluded  the  deplorable  schism  which,  at  a 
later  date,  was  to  desolate  the  diocese.  The  ground  on  which 
this  church  is  built  had  been  granted  to  Father  Robert  Harding, 
in  17G3,  under  the  express  condition  of  erecting  there  a  cluipel, 
>vhich  he,  in  fact,  did.  The  church  was  successively  transferred 
l)y  will  from  Father  Harding  to  \\n\  Kev.  John  Lewis,  and  by  the 
latter  to  B'ather  Molyneux,  and  finally  to  Father  F'rancis  Nenle. 
At  last,  by  an  Act  of  tho  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  (passed 
Sept.  13,  1788),  a  body  of  trustees  was  recognized  as  a  body 
politic,  and  incorporated  to  administer  the  finances  of  the  church. 

In  1810  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  edifice,  and  these 
new  erections  gave  rise  to  conflicts  of  authority  with  the  bislnjp, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  trustees  set  up  claims  to  be  consulted 
in  the  choice  of  their  pastors,  and  unfortunately.  Father  Harold 
and  his  uncle  arrayed  themselves  in  a  measure  against  the  bishoji. 
This  was  the    more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  younger   Harold, 

-■■  ■  ■  —        ■  ■  I    - 

*  Archives  of  the  Archbishop  of  Biillimore. 
10* 


'i 

1  i 

„  1  < 

'i  h   • 

!  !  ■ 

i* 

.h 


iM'if 


'H 


226 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


though  a  man  of  eminent  quahties  and  i^trikm^^  defects,  ^va.s  full 
of  real  eloquence  and  virtue,  but  marred  his  transcendent  merit 
by  the  asperity  of  his  temper. 

In  spile  of  these  troubles,  Nvliidi  shortened  his  days.  Bishop 
Egan  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  foundation  of  a  colony  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  at  Philadelphia,  to  take  care  of  an  orphan 
asylum.  In  1797  a  charitable  association  had  been  ovgunized  in 
the  city  to  harbor  orphans  whose  parents  had  been  carried  off  by 
the  yellow  fever.  These  poor  children  were  confided  to  a  pious 
lady,  and  lodged  in  a  house  near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity ; 
but,  from  the  very  first,  resources  were  precarious,  and  the  asylum 
was  maintained  only  by  the  persevering  eftbrts  of  Father  Michael 
Hurley,  pastor  of  St.  Augustine's  in  1807,  and  by  the  generous  aid 
of  a  layman,  Mr.  Cornelius  Thiers.  It  needed  a  religious  institute 
to  undei'take  the  direction  of  this  asylum,  and  the  trustees  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  resolved,  in  1814,  to  ask  Sisters  of  Charity  fi'om 
Enmietsburg.  It  was  the  first  colony  sent  by  ^Mother  Set  on  from 
her  rising  community,  and  the  holy  foundress  welcomed  this 
opening  with  joy.  Three  Sisters  were  appointed,  willi  Sister  Rose 
AVhite  as  Superioi',*  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  September  29, 
1814.  They  took  possession  of  the  asylum,  \\hich  contained 
thirteen  children,  in  rags,  groaning  under  the  weight  of  a  debt  of 
four  thousand  dollars.  Their  early  eflbrts  were  crossed  by  trials, 
but  three  years  aftci'  they  had  paid  the  debt,  and  the  orjdian 
asylum  now  contains  a  hundred  children,  while  the  boys,  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  six,  occupy  another  asylum,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

*  Sister  Rose  White  was  a  pious  widow,  born  in  Maryland,  in  1784,  and 
was  one  of  tlie  first  to  join  Mother  Seton  to  found  in  America  tlie  Order  of 
Sisters  of  Cliarity.  On  the  death  of  tlic  foundress,  Sister  Rose  was  elected 
Superior  general,  and  was  re-elected  by  her  Society  as  often  a.s  the  constitu- 
tion permitted,  thus  receiving  a  proof  of  their  confidence  in  lier  wisdom, 
virtue,  and  aptitude  for  government.  She  died  in  Maryland,  July  iiStli, 
1841. 


«l^a 


tt» 


m 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


227 


«f^* 


Bishop  Egan  did  not  live  long  enough  to  see  his  diocese 
adorned  by  the  presence  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  He  expired 
on  the  22d  of  July,  1814,  and  on  his  death,  the  Very  Rev.  Louis 
de  Barth  was  appointed  administrator  of  the  diocese.  In  the 
month  of  January,  1815,  Archbishop  Carroll  wrote  to  Rome  to 
ask  that  the  vacancy  should  be  filled,  and  renewed  his  request  in 
the  month  of  July.  The  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal  was  nominated 
Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  but  he  refused  the  See,  and  the  Court  of 
Rome  did  not  insist,  because  it  wished  to  call  him  then  to  the 
more  important  post  of  Coadjutor  of  Baltimore. 

The  Rev.  John  Baptist  David,  afterwards  Coadjutor  of  Louis- 
ville, was  also  proposed  at  Rome  for  the  See  of  Philadelphia,  but 
he  hastened  to  write  to  the  Propaganda,  to  beg  them  not  to  think 
of  him.  The  ability  with  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth  adminis- 
tered the  diocese,  next  pointed  him  out  for  the  episcopacy ;  but 
such  an  honor  disconcerted  his  modesty ;  he  twice  successively 
refused  the  See,  and  once  sent  back  to  Rome  the  bulls  of  in- 
vestiture. Every  one  shrunk  from  a  burden  i-eudered  particularly 
heavy  by  the  spirit  of  independence  and  revolt  which  fermented 
among  the  bodies  of  trustees.  At  last,  in  1830,  the  Very  Rev. 
Henry  Conwell, Vicar-general  of  the  diocese  of  Armagh,  in  Ireland, 
accepted  the  post,  ignorant,  doubtless,  of  its  many  difficulties. 
He  was  consecrated  in  London,  by  Bishop  Poynter.  He  was 
then  seventy-three  years  old,  and  immediately  embarked  for  the 
United  States,  where  the  bitterest  trials  and  cares  awaited  him. 
The  long  schism  of  St.  Mary's  Chu.'ch,  Philadelphia,  has  been  a 
long  scandal  to  religion,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  relate  briefly  the 
sad  story,  in  order  to  serve  as  a  lesson  to  imprudent  laymen,  who 
believe  that  they  show  zeal  in  exceeding  their  duty  and  invading 
that  of  the  clergy  and  episcopate. 

In  1818  or  1819,  William  Hogan,  a  young  priest  of  inferior 
education  but  good  natural  parts,  who  had  been  dismissed  from 
Maynooth  for  a  breach  of  discipline,  left  the  diocese  of  Limerick 


228 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


!'■'. 


■M 


U' 


I!    I 


iff  ' 


:  ! 

I-  ' 


' '  ( 


and  emij.'irkod  for  New  York.  He  was  first  employe  d  en  the 
ministry  at  Albany,  but  left  that  city,  against  the  wish  of  Dr.  Con- 
nolly, then  Bishop  of  New  York,  and  was  temporarily  installed  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  De  13arth,  administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia, 
as  temporary  pastor  at  St.  Mary's.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1820, 
Bishop  Couwell  took  possession  of  his  See,  and  having  had  reason 
to  suspect  Mr.  Ilogan's  conduct  in  Ireland,  on  his  passage,  at 
Albany  and  Philadelphia,  he  withdrew  his  faculties  on  the  20th 
of  December,  1820.  Hogan  continued  to  officiate  at  St.  Mary's, 
in  spite  of  the  censures  of  his  bishop,  and  the  refusal  of  the 
Archbishoj)  of  Baltimore  to  entertain  his  appeal.  Bishop  Con- 
well  accordingly  excommunicated  llogan  on  the  11th  of  Febru- 
aiy,  1821,  and  in  the  course  of  the  spring,  appointed  as  pastor, 
the  Rev.  James  Cummiskey,  associating  with  him  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hayden,  whom  he  had  ordained  on  the  1st  of  May. 
The  bishop  and  his  clei'gy  occupied  the  church  for  some  months, 
though  very  much  annoyed  by  Hogan  and  his  party,  who  threat- 
ened to  take  possession  of  St.  Mary's,  and  finally  did  so  in  the 
summer  of  1821. 

In  August,  Bishop  England,  of  Charleston,  stopped  in  Phila- 
delphia on  his  way  to  New  York,  and  though  he  did  not  wait  on 
Bishop  Conwell,  was  soon  found  to  be  much  prejudiced  against 
the  latter.  While  at  New  York  he  was  visited  by  Hogan,  and 
wrote  to  Bishop  Conwell,  offering  his  mediation ;  and  so  deluded 
was  he  by  the  rebellious  priest  and  his  party,  that  he  concluded 
his  letter  by  saying :  "  I  pledge  myself  to  you,  and  I  would  not 
do  so  thoughtlessly,  that  if  you  grant  what  I  ask,  you  will  uphold 
and  preserve  religion ;  but  should  you  refuse  it,  you  will  be  the 
cause  of  its  destruction." 

Bishop  Conwell  by  no  means  approved  the  steps  taken  by  the 
Bishop  of  Charleston,  and  peremptorily  declined  his  mediation. 
However,  when  Bishop  England,  in  returning  to  his  See,  stopped 
at  Philadelphia  in  October,  the  bishop  was  induced  to  yield  to 


r 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


229 


M-0 


his  request ;  and  Bishop  Englaud,  having  promised  Mr.  Hogan  a 
mission  in  his  own  diocese,  obtained  powers  from  Bishop  Conwell 
to  absolve  him  on  a  proper  submission.  Hogan  readily  promised 
all  that  was  required,  and  Bishop  England  absolved  him  on  the 
18th  of  October,  1821 ;  but  the  very  next  day,  Hogan,  hearken- 
ing to  the  fatal  advice  of  the  trustees,  retracted,  again  said  Mass 
at  St.  Mary's,  and  resumed  his  functions  as  pastor.  Bishop  Eng- 
land, who  had  believed  so  inqjlicitly  in  Hogan's  good  faith,  saw 
all  his  plans  thus  defeated,  and  so  far  from  being  able  to  carry 
out  his  promise,  was  in  turn  obliged  to  re-excommunicate  the 
wretched  Hogan. 

This  was  not  the  only  effort  to  restore  peace.  Several  friends 
of  the  bishop,  admirers  of  the  Dominican  Father,  William  V. 
Harold,  once  stationed  at  Philadelphia,  prevailed  upon  Bishop 
Conwell  *o  invite  him  to  return,  fully  persuaded  that  Hogan  would 
be  at  once  abandoned.  Father  Harold  was  then  Prior  of  a  house 
of  his  Order  in  Lisbon,  and  joyfully  accepted  the  offer  of  a  pastor- 
ship of  a  church  to  which  he  was  so  much  attached  as  St.  Mary's, 
but  informed  the  bishop  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  latter 
to  write  to  Rome  in  order  to  obtain  the  acceptance  of  his  resigna- 
tion as  Prior.  Meanwhile,  Bishop  Conwell,  to  his  great  chagrin, 
learned  that  Father  Harold  and  his  uncle,  Father  William  Harold, 
Lad  been  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to  his  predecessor,  and 
that  the  uncle  had  first  stirred  up  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  to 
revolt  against  their  bishop,  actually  circulating  anonymous  printed 
appeals.  Bishop  Conwell  now  retracted  the  invitation  to  the 
nephew,  but  Father  William  V.  Harold,  having  resigned  his 
priorship,  was  already  on  his  way,  and  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1821,  landed  in  Philadelphia,  to  die  great  joy  of  all  his  friends. 
The  Bishop  received  him  coldly,  but  installed  him  at  St.  Joseph's, 
and  made  him  his  secretary.  Father  Harold  did  not,  however, 
succeed  at  all  iri  weaning  the  schismatics  from  Hogan. 

The  majority  of  the  Catholics  were  far  from  approving  the  con- 


' 


230 


THE  CATHOLIC   CIIURCFI 


'    V  ',  I 


■f  , 


I*: ' 


p-  ^ 


i  ;•  :i 


'-! 


duct  of  the  truslocs.  Most  of  t.liom  now  deserted  the  interdicted 
ehurcli,  and  followed  the  bishop,  wlio  had  witlidrawn  to  St.  Jo- 
seph's. The  two  parlies  became  more  and  more  exasperated ; 
the  orthodox  lioped  to  defeat  the  schismatics  by  electing  a  new 
Hoard  of  Trustees,  but  those  in  office  managed  to  secure  a  re- 
election by  nndtjplying  the  number  of  seats  in  the  church,  and 
letting  them  to  their  creatures.  Now,  as  every  male  occupant  of 
a  vseat  was  an  elector,  whether  Jew  or  infidel,  the  majority  was 
thus  secured  for  the  revolt.  The  election  took  place  in  the  (;hurch 
on  Easter  I'uesday,  1822,  and  led  to  sad  results  :  the  disoider  was 
friolitful ;  blood  was  shed,  and  the  schismatics  triumphed,  pro- 
se rxing  Ilogan  as  pastor. 

At  the  close  of  the  same  year,  the  Archbishop  of  Tialtimore 
returned  from  Rome  to  the  United  States,  bringing  a  l^apal  brief 
of  August  2,  1 822,  which  solemnly  condemned  the  schismatics  of 
St.  Mary's.  Mr.  Ilogan  promised  to  submit,  and  a  long  corre- 
spondence ensued  bet\yeen  him  and  the  lie  v.  William  V.  llai'old, 
the  bishop's  secretary.  In  this,  bad  faith  is  everywhere  evident 
in  Hogan's  language.  Nevertheless,  he  made  his  sid:>mission  on 
tli(^  10th  of  December,  1822,  and  the  same  day  received  from 
jiishop  Conwell  his  exeat  and  the  removal  of  the  censures  in- 
curred; but  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month,  the  unhappy  ])riest, 
circumvented  by  the  trustees,  relapsed  into  his  error ;  he  objected 
that  the  authenticity  of  the  rontifical  brief  had  not  been  shown 
and  continued  to  officiate  and  pre:ich  at  St  Mary's.  The  guilty 
priest  published  the  most  violent  pamphlets  against  his  diocesan 
and  against  Bishop  England,  whom  he  sought  to  compromise ; 
but  he  soon  tired  of  functions  which  he  rebelliously  exercised, 
and  which  were  a  check  to  his  passions.  lie  left  Philadelphia, 
went  south,  married,  re-married,  became  a  custom-house  officer  at 
Boston,  went  into  the  pay  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Catholicity, 
ever  disposed  to  foment  scandal ;  and  successively  published 
against  tlie  Church  three  infan]ous  books,  recently  reprinted  at 


V 


'Miffi: 


BmiMi 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


231 


V 


]Lirtford  to  stiinuliito  the  Know-Notliiiig  movement.*  At  lasf, 
Avhilo  the  tutor  of  Leahy,  a  |>i'eteii(U!<l  Trappist  monk,  and  an  ob- 
scene reviler  of  Catliolic  truth,  he  died  of  the  palsy  in  1851  or 
1852,  without  giving  any  sign  of  repentance — a  frightful  example 
of  the  pernicious  influence  of  the  trustee  system  which  Protes- 
tantism tries  to  force  on  the  Catliolics.  Ilogau  had  committed 
faults  at  first ;  but  he  repoate<-lly  showed  repentance  and  a  wish 
to  submit.  The  perfidious  counsels  of  I'cvolted  laymen,  tlio  false 
glory  of  being  loved  and  flattered  by  a  part  of  his  parishioners, 
retained  liim  in  sin,  and  hurried  him  on  from  lapse  to  lapse ;  and 
the  unwortliy  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  remain  responsible  before  God 
for  no  small  part  of  the  crimes  of  the  unhappy  priest,  whom  they 
seduced  fi'om  the  path  of  duty. 

The  trustees,  deprived  of  their  chosen  pastor,  wislied  to  re- 
place him  worthily,  and  applied  at  first  to  the  celebrated  Angelo 
Tnglesi,  whose  adventures  will  figure  in  another  part  of  this  his- 
tory ;  but  the  lax  manners  of  this  gentleman  alarmed  even  the 
unscrupulous  consciences  of  the  schismatics  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
they  named  in  his  place  the  Rev.  Thatldeus  O'Mcally,  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Limerick.  This  clergyman  rejected  all  proposals  made 
by  Bishop  Conwell,  and  set  out  for  Rome  with  the  accusations 
of  the  trustees  against  the  Rishop  ;  but  he  listened  to  th(  voice 
of  conscience,  and  submitting  at  Rome,  on  the  2oth  of  July,  J  ^25, 
retired  to  a  convent  to  do  penance  for  his  fault.  Meanwhile, 
the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  having  drunk  the  cup  of  bitterness, 
weakened  by  six  years'  strife,  insult,  and  contempt,  at  last  agreed 
to  an  arrangement  in  wliich  he  thought  he  guaranteed  the  im- 
prescriptible rights  of  the  Church.  On  the  9th  of  October, 
1826,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  between  Bishop  Conwell  and 
the  trustees,  by  tlie  fourth  article  of  which  the  bishop  acknowl- 


*  Popery  as  it  Was  and  Is  :  by  William  Ilogaii.    Hartford  :  Andrus.    Nun- 
neries and  Auricular  Confession:  by  William  Ilogan.    Hartford  :  Andrus. 


•  •  i 


232 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Wl 


■'M 


h  -t  ■■' 


edges  in  tlie  latter  a  riglit  to  recommend  suitable  persons  to  be 
pastors  of  St.  Mary's,  on  tlie  following  conditions : 

The  bishop  shall  name  the  priests  and  notify  the  trustees.  If 
the  latter  do  not  find  them  to  be  properly  qualified  to  be  pastor 
or  assistant,  they  shall  present  their  objections  to  the  bishop.  If 
the  bishop  persists,  he  shall  name  a  committee  of  three  ecclesi- 
astics, of  which  he  shall  form  one,  to  deliberate  with  a  commit- 
tee of  three  trustees ;  and  the  vote  of  this  committee  shall  be 
respected  by  the  bishop.  If  they  are  equally  divided,  two  arbi- 
trators shall  be  chosen,  and  their  vote  shall  decide. 

In  spite  of  the  satisfaction  which  this  treaty  gave  their  pre- 
tensions, the  trustees  followed  it  up  by  a  protest  which  they  pre- 
sented to  the  bishop,  and  which  the  latter  accepted.  By  this, 
they  declared  that  they  meant  in  no  respect  to  abandon  their 
nghts,  and  that  they  will  claim  at  Rome,  that  in  future  no  bishop 
shall  be  named  without  the  recommendation  and  approbation  of 
the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  diocese. 

By  a  letter  of  October  11,  1826,  Bishop  Conwell  proclaimed 
an  amnesty,  raised  the  interdict  on  the  church,  and  then,  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  trustees,  appointed  as  pastors  the  Rev. 
William  V.  Harold  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Ilayden.  But  this 
fatal  compromise  was  a  bar  to  the  real  good  of  St.  Mary's.  Be- 
fore long  the  Rev.  Father  Harold,  the  Dominican,  during  twenty 
years  esteemed  for  his  zeal  and  eloquence,  came  into  collision 
with  the  bishop  in  regard  to  it,  and  by  his  impetuous  character 
was  hurried  into  open  disrespect,  oven  into  contempt,  for  Bishop 
Conwell.  Meanwhile,  the  Propaganda,  at  the  tidings  of  a  de- 
plorable compromise  that  left  revolt  triumphant,  had  seriously 
taken  the  matter  up,  and  in  a  general  assembly  of  cardinals,  on 
the  30th  of  April,  182*7,  declared  the  agreement  of  October  9th 
null  and  void,  as  an  infringement  on  the  ecclesiastical  authority. 
The  bishop  submitted  to  the  dejree,  in  which  it  was  solemnly 
said,  that  "  Peter  liad  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  Leo  ;"  and  by  a 


n ;.  i 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


233 


.b 


pastoral  of  July  22,  1827,  he  proclaimed  the  aorogation  of  the 
agreement  as  condemned.  But  the  courageous  self-denial  of  th«i 
prelate  was  not  imitated  at  St.  Mary's,  where  the  zealous  Rev. 
Thomas  Ilayden,  who  had  reluctantly  accepted  the  post,  had 
been,  to  his  great  joy,  succeeded  by  the  Dominican,  Father 
Ryan.  To  put  an  end  to  the  scandals,  Cardinal  Capellari,  on 
the  9th  of  March,  1828,  wrote  to  the  Rev.  William  Mathews, 
pastor  in  Washington,  acqu'  "nting  him  with  a  decision  which 
named  him  Administrator  oi  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia,  and 
requesting  him  to  transmit  to  Bishop  Conwell  a  letter  which  in- 
vited him  to  Rome,  and  letters  from  the  Visitor-general  of  the 
Dominicans  to  Fathers  Harold  and  Ryan,  ordering  them  to  leave 
Philadelphia  and  proceed  to  a  convent  of  their  order  in  Ohio. 

The  unfortunate  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  immediately  set  out 
for  Rome,  and  remained  there  several  months ;  but  suddenly, 
feai'ing  that  he  might  not  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  diocese, 
he  precipitately  left  the  Eternal  City,  and  returned  to  America. 
However,  the  United  States  Consul  at  Rome  wrote,  on  the  8th 
of  May,  1829,  to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  that  his 
fear  was  groundless,  that  the  Propaganda  had  offered  no  oppo- 
sition to  Bishop  Conwell's  departure,  and  that  his  passports  had 
been  signed  without  any  hesitation.*  The  Rev.  William  Mathews 
preserved  the  post  of  Apostolic  Administrator  till  1830  ;f  but  he 
would  not  consent  any  longer  to  bear  so  heavy  a  burden,  and  at 


*  Bishop  England's  AVorks,  v.  229. 

t  The  Kcv.  WilHam  Mathews,  born  in  Charles  county,  Maryland,  in  1770, 
made  liis  classic;  i  course  at  St.  Omers,  and  his  divinity  at  the  Sulpitiaa 
Seminary,  Baltimore.  Ordained  March,  1800.  Ho  was  tlie  seventli  eceleei- 
astic  promoted  to  tlie  priestliood  in  the  United  States,  and  tlie  first  native 
ordained  in  the  country.  He  died  on  tiio  30th  April,  1854,  universally 
revered  as  a  patriarch,  having  filled  the  priesthood  fifty-four  years,  and 
been  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  in  Washington  for  over  half  a  century.  His 
temporary  functions  as  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia  drew 
him  for  a  time  from  his  church,  but  he  returned  to  it  as  soon  as  he  was 
able  to  resign  the  diocese  into  the  hands  of  Bishop  Kcnrick, 


t    1 


234 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


If 

\i  .t 
n  1 


i  i 


the  sucfgestion  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  in  1829,  with  the  con- 
sent of  liishop  Conwell,  the  Right  Rev.  Fi'ancis  Patrick  Kenrick 
was  elected  by  the  Holy  See  Coadjutor  of  Philadeli)hia,  with 
powers  of  administrator.  The  consecration  of  this  prelate  took 
place  at  liardstowu  in  June,  1820,  and  was  celebrated  by  Bishop 
Flaget. 

The  two  Dominican  Fathers,  stationed  at  St.  Mary's,  did  not 
display  the  same  obedience  as  their  prelate.  But  of  all  con- 
duct open  to  them,  they  took  what  was  most  eccentric  and  ab- 
surd. This  was  to  complain  to  the  government,  at  Washington, 
and  ask  its  protection  against  the  Pope,  accusing  the  Court  of 
Rome  with  violating  their  individual  liberty  as  American  citi- 
zens, by  ordering  them  to  go  to  Cincinnati,  when  their  taste  in- 
duced them  to  prefer  Philadelphia  as  a  residence.  Henry  Clay, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  was  simple  enougli  to  listen  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Fathers,  and  by  his  letter  of  July  9,  1828,  instruct- 
ed the  American  minister  at  Paris  to  see  the  Nuncio  and  seek 
justice  for  his  proteges.  The  polite  reply  of  the  pontifical  envoy 
probably  convinced  Clay  that  he  had  plunged  into  an  element 
not  his  own,  for  he  immcdi  itely  wrote  to  the  minister  at  Paris 
to  drop  the  matter. 

On  their  side,  the  two  Fathiu-s,  doubtless,  saw  that  if  they  chose 
to  throw  off  the  character  of  Religious  and  Catholics,  the  Order 
would  have  no  power  over  them,  and  they  might  in  liberty  enjoy 
all  civil  and  political  rights  as  American  citizens  ;  but  that,  as 
long  as  they  remained  Dominicans,  they  were  bound  in  con- 
science to  submit  to  their  superiors  and  the  Holy  See.  In  1829, 
they  returned  separately  to  Ireland,  where  Father  John  Ryan 
died  some  years  since,  having  repaired  passing  errors  of  judg- 
ment by  a  long  and  exemplary  career.  Father  Harold,  after  be- 
ing Provincial  of  his  Order  in  Ireland,  and  long  revered  as  a 
lioly  and  zealous  priest,  has  expired  while  this  work  is  passing 
through  the  press. 


# 


i 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


235 


# 


P. 


The  grout  prudence,  niid  the  fir)Ti  et  patornal  deterinination 
of  Bishop  IConrick,  restored  peace  to  St.  Mary's.  Difficulties 
again  arose  in  1831 ;  and  this  is  no  wonder,  for  the  very  vice  of 
American  li'gishition  is  by  the  trustee  system  forced  into  the 
affairs  of  the  Church.  They  say  in  France,  that  the  republican 
form  of  government  would  bo  a  very  good  one  for  angels.  We 
may  say  the  same  of  trusteeism  :  as  it  exists  in  the  United 
States,  it  would  be  the  best  temporal  administration  for  saints. 
Unfortunately,  hov/ever,  all  the  laity  are  not  saints,  as  we  see  in 
the  many  schisms  the  system  has  caused,  and  especially  that  of 
St.  Ma'-y's,  the  most  celebrated  and  scandalous  of  all.  The 
Right  Kev.  Henry  Conwell  lived  in  retirement  at  Philadelphia 
till  April  21,  1842,  when  he  expired,  at  the  age  of  ninety -four. 
Overwhelmed  with  infirmities  and  struck  with  blindness,  the 
prelate  supported  with  courageous  resignation  the  fearful  burden 
of  a  long  old  age,  in  the  midst  of  the  difficulties  which  have  as- 
sailed him.  Bishop  England  says  :  "  The  bishop  has  been  the 
greatest  sufterer  in  his  feelings,  in  his  income,  and  under  God, 
he  may  thank  his  virtue  alone  that  he  has  not  been  in  his  char- 
acter. That,  however,  has  been  but  burnished  in  the  collision  : 
were  he  a  hypocrite,  the  thin  washing  would  have  long  since 
been  rubbed  away,  for,  indeed,  the  applications  have  been  roughly 
used.  Wliat  do  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia  desire,  better  than 
a  bishop  whose  character  will  outlive  the  test  of  four  years'  as- 
sailing such  as  he  has  met  with,  and  whose  firmness  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  principle  has  been  tested  as  his  has  been  ?  These 
arc  quaUties  not  to  be  every  day  or  easily  found."* 

By  the  death  of  Bishop  Conwell  the  Kt.  Rev.  Dr.  Kenrick  be- 
came titular  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  which  ho  had  been  for 
upwards  of  twelve  years  the  administrator.     This  prelate,  now  at 


*  Bishop  England's  Works,  v.  108.  Our  account  of  the  schism  is  basec^. 
chiefly  on  tlie  voluminous  documents  published  in  this  volume,  and  extend- 
ing from  page  109  to  232. 


il 


236 


TilK  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I  i 

,1 

'■  i 

m 


mily 


ft  ! 


tlio  he.'id  of  the  American  hierarchy,  was  boru  in  Dublin,  on  the 
3d  of  December,  1797,  and  studied  divinity  at  Home.  Having 
devoted  himself  to  the  American  missions  in  1821,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Kenrick  wjis  first  employed  in  Kentucky,  and  won  the  esteem 
and  regard  of  Bishop  Flaget.  Thiit  patiiarch  of  the  West  often 
speaks  in  his  (correspondence  of  the  young  Irish  priest,  describing 
him  "as  remarkable  for  his  piety,  extensive  acquirements,  the 
quickness  of  his  mind,  and  the  natural  eloquence  with  which  ho 
expressed  himself."  The  jubilee  which  was  celebrated  in  Ken- 
tucky in  182G  and  1827,  gave  a  wide  field  to  the  zeal  and  talents 
of  Mr.  Kenrick.  He  attended  Uishop  Flaget  in  the  pastoral  visi- 
tation of  his  vast  diocese,  everywhere  preaching  with  success  in 
edification  and  conversions;  and  at  Bardstown  he  gave  public 
conferences  on  religion,  answering  the  objections  of  Protestant 
ministers,  and  often  eft'ectually  silencing  them.  Bishop  Flaget's 
attachment  to  his  young  friend  was  so  great  that  the  ucm's  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kenrick's  nomination  as  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia 
caused  the  venerable  bishop  deep  grief,  and  the  separation  was 
extremely  painful  to  both.  Bishop  Flaget  received  the  bulls  from 
Rome  on  the  1st  of  May,  1830,  but  it  was  not  till  twenty-foiu* 
hours  after  that  he  had  the  courage  to  hand  them  to  Mr.  Kenrick, 
so  difficult  had  it  been  for  him  to  resign  himself  to  the  loss  of 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  ornaments  of  the  clergy  of  his  diocese. 
This  tender  aflfection  of  Bishop  Flaget  is  too  honorable  to  the 
learned  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  for  us  to  omit  it  here. 

Of  this  period  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  life  we  find  an  incident 
worth  noting,  in  a  work  by  an  Italian  missionary. 

The  consecration  of  Bishop  Kenrick  was  performed  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Joseph,  Bardstown,  on  Trinity  Sunday,  the  6th 
of  June,  by  the  venerable  Bishop  of  that  See,  assisted  by  the 
aged  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  his  own  coadjutor,  the 
Bishop  of  Mauricastro  in  2Jctrtibus.  The  Bishop  of  Cincinnati 
was  in  the  sanctuary  with  ;i  large  body  of  clergy.     Bishop  Eng- 


\i. 


IN   TIIK   UNITED  STATES. 


237 


livncl  preaclied  ou  the  occasion  with  his  wonted  eloquence  ;  nnj 
afterwards,  during  two  weeks,  visited  several  parts  of  the  diocese, 
delighting  all  by  his  masterly  vindications  of  the  (Catholic  faith. 
His  last  discourse  in  Kentucky  was  pronounced  at  Louisville,  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  church.  Tlie  newly-or- 
dained prelate  proceedcid,  witli  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  to 
that  city,  and  entered  on  tlie  administration  of  tlie  diocese,  which 
had  been  intrusted  to  him  by  the  Holy  See.* 

In  the  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  wo  find  a  letter 
of  Bishop  Kenrick,  dated  January  4,  1834,  and  it  contains  inter- 
esting details  as  to  the  state  of  religion  in  the  diocese.  The  pre- 
late then  estimated  the  Catholic  population  of  his  diocese  at  one 
liundred  thousand,  chiefly  Germans  and  Iiish.  "  But  the  French," 
lie  added,  "  arc  also  numerous,  especinlly  at  Philadelphia."  The 
presence  of  thi-ee  French  priests — Messrs.  Fouthouze  and  Guth, 
and  Father  Dubuisson,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus — gave  them  every 
opportunity  of  preaching  their  religion.  One  of  these  often 
preached  in  their  language  at  the  German  church  of  St.  Mary, 
and  sometimes  also  at  St.  Mary's,  the  cathedral.  In  the  interior 
of  Pennsylvania  French  families  are  found  in  several  plaees.f  A 
notice  on  St.  Mary's  Church  also  says,  that  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century,  "  among  the  families  who  pretty  regularly  attended 
the  church,  were  several  French  families  of  rank  and  even  dis- 
tinction ;  and  although  death  and  the  instability  of  human  aifairs 
have  diminished  their  numbers,  and  removed  most  of  them,  the 
descendants  of  some  of  these  families  are  still  parishioners  of  St. 
Mary's." 

In  1834,  Philadelphia  contained  twenty- five  thousand  Catho« 
lies  and  five  churches,  each  attended  by  two  priests.  At  Easter, 
1833,  the  Jesuits  had  resumed  possession  of  St.  Joseph's  Church, 


*  Memorie  istoriche  ed  edificante  di  un  missionario  apostolico  dell  ordiuo 
dei  prodicatori.    Milano,  1844. 
t  Annales  do  lu  Propagation  de  laFoi,  viii.  212-220. 

9 


I 


238 


THE  CATUOLIC  CIIUUCII 


the  old  ro.sidcnoo  of  the  first  niiKsionmicK  of  tlio  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  previous  year  tlio  Ivov.  John  Hughos  luul  built 
St.  John's  ('hurch,  aided  l)y  the  generosity  of  the  public,  and 
especially  that  of  a  French  gentleman,  Mr.  M.  A.  Krenaye,  who 
pledged  his  property  to  encourage  the  contractors  and  prevent 
the  work  from  stoj^ping.*  In  the  interior  of  the  diocoso  the 
faithful  were  less  provided  with  religious  aid,  in  consequence  of 
the  small  number  of  missionaries,  and  the  only  parishes  possess- 
ing fixed  pastors  who  cehdtrated  Mass  every  Sunday,  were  Pitta- 
burg,  Conewago,  Lorctto,  Manayunk,  and  Wilmington.  Among 
the  missions,  some  enjoyed  the  presence  of  the  pastors  three  times 
a  month,  such  as  Haycock,  Pottsville,  Lancaster,  Bedford,  and 
Chambersburg ;  others,  only  once  a  fortnight ;  others  again, 
but  once  a  month ;  and  some  more  rarely  still,  as  the  wants  of 
other  missions  allowed  the  priests  time  to  visit  them.  Browns- 
ville, Carbondale,  Silver  Lake,  New  Castle,  Butler,  were  in  this 
situation,  although  churches  were  built  in  all.  "The  missiona- 
ries," wrote  ]3ishop  Kem-ick,  "  are  charged  with  the  care  of  two, 
three,  or  four  missions,  or  even  more,  often  at  considerable  dis- 
tances from  each  other.  Some  of  these  missions  need  the  gift  of 
tongues  and  a  health  of  iron.  Nine  nations  have  supplied  our 
missionaries,  so  that  there  is  more  diversity  among  them  than 
among  the  faithful  even,  as  regards  language.  Four  of  the  priests 
are  French,  three  Germans,  two  Belgians,  and  twenty-one  Irish. 
Eussia,  Livonia,  Portugal,  and  England  have  each  gi\  en  one  mis- 
sionary to  Pennsylvania.     As  to  Americans  born,  we  count  only 


*  Mr.  M.  A.  Frenayo,  born  in  St.  Domingo,  and  educated  in  France,  re- 
turned to  his  native  isle  witli  General  Le  Cicrc's  expedition,  and  lie  endeav- 
ored to  remain  after  tlie  departure  of  that  army.  Seized  by  the  negroes,  lie 
escaped  death  almost  miraculously,  and  took  refuge  first  in  Jamaica  and 
next  in  the  United  States.  Having  realized  an  honorable  fortiino  in  trade, 
he  bestowed  it  on  the  diocese  of  riiiladeli'liia,  an. I  tor  the  last  twenty  years 
devoted  himself  to  works  of  charity  and  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  May  his 
noble  old  age  be  long  prolonged  for  the  good  of  religion. 


I  (t  .'I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


239 


threo 


>lovc<l  ill   tlui  (li 


and  two  at  Einmotsbui 


now  employed  in  tho,  dioceso,  ana  two  at  i^nnie 
The  number  would  increase  if  we  liad  a  suilablo  seminary  to  re- 
ceive tho  young  men  who  desire  to  devote  themselves  to  the  holy 
ministry,  and  this  is  the  object  of  my  most  sincere  desire. 

"At  Conevvago,  in  tho  part  of  Pennsylvania  which  borders  on 
Maryland,  tho  Fathers  of  tho  Society  of  Jcvsus  have  one  establish- 
ment amid  a  considerable  Catholic  population.  The  zeal  of  these 
Fathers  extends  to  tho  neighboring  population,  and  they  have 
threo  churclies  besides  that  where  they  reside,  and  which  was 
built  in  1787.  Nearly  twelve  hundred  were  confirmed  in  these 
threo  churches  at  my  last  visit. 

"  Tho  church  of  Gosheidioppen  also  belongs  to  tho  Jesuits,  and 
must  have  been  built  in  1765.  Tho  Catholic  population  of  the 
neighborhood  is  very  numerous,  and  almost  all  of  German  origin; 
henco  the  present  generation,  although  American  born,  does  not 
generally  speak  English.  The  spirit  of  faith  and  piety  has  been 
preserved  and  maintained  till  now  by  tho  zeal  of  Father  Corvin 
(Krolcowski),  a  Livonian  Jesuit."*  Such  was  the  state  of  religion 
in  tho  diocese  of  rhiladelphia  in  1834,  and  we  are  now  to  see 
what  progi'oss  the  Church,  in  spit«  of  all  its  trials,  has  made  in 
the  last  twenty  years. 


*  Father  Boniface  Co-vin  vas  present  nt  tho  synod  in  Philadclpliia  in 
1832,  and  is  descrlbi^l  !:  >  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hayden  aa  being  then  a  venerable 
old  man,  and  second  on  the  list  of  priests  that  signed — the  Rev.  Pntriok 
Kenny  being  the  flr.n  "  juxta  ordinationis  suae  tempus."  He  died  the  11th 
of  October,  1837,  aged  sixty  years. 


i! 

11: 
pi 


lln 


!||: 


1'4  li 


tiit-^i 


240 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

DIOCESE    OF   PHILADELPHIA (1838-1844). 

Commencement  and  progress  of  the  anti-Gattaollo  agitation— Yarions  manoeuTres  of  the 
fonatics— The  Native  party— The  Philadelphia  riots. 

Bishop  Kenrick's  episcopate  was  not  distinguished  only  by 
the  admirable  development  given  in  his  diocese  in  Catholic  insti- 
tutions, by  the  construction  of  numerous  churches,  and  the  re- 
markable increase  of  the  clergy;  the  celebrated  prelate  had 
also  to  exercise  his  zeal  in  rebuilding  the  shrines  which  a  misled 
people  laid  in  ashes,  and  in  preaching  patience  and  religion  to  his 
flock,  while  he  endeavored  to  protect  them  against  the  fanaticism 
of  the  vile  multitude. 

The  anti-Catholic  agitation  breaks  out  periodically  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  symptoms  of  the  malady  are  the  same 
from  the  colonial  times  down  to  our  own.  It  is  a  sort  of  inter- 
mittent fever,  which  has  its  deep-seated  principle  in  the  hereditary 
hatred  transmitted  for  three  centuries  to  Protestant  generations, 
and  inoculated  by  the  incendiary  writings  of  the  first  deformers. 
At  certain  intervals,  political  quackery  succeeds  in  temporarily 
breaking  the  fever,  and  the  good  disposition  given  by  Providence 
to  nations  helps  these  intervals  of  p^  ag  calm.  Man  cannot  be 
kept  in  a  state  of  constant  fury  against  his  fellow-man,  especially 
when  the  latter  is  inoffensive  and  innocent,  and  when  the  passions 
are  no  longer  excited  by  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  natural  be- 
nevolence resumes  its  course.  There  are  moments  when  apostles 
of  error  stop  from  weariness,  and  others,  when  political  reasons 
make  it  prudent  to  wheedle  Catholics  by  presenting  toleration  as 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


211 


a  real  reality  and  not  a  sham.  And  lastly,  God  wishes  to  give 
liis  Church  some  days  of  repose  amid  the  trials  of  the  crucible,  in 
which  the  faithful  are  purified. 

The  ministers  of  the  popular  sects  of  Protestantism — the  Pres- 
byterians, Methodists,  and  Baptists — cannot  bear  to  see  their 
flocks  ravaged  by  infidelity.  Interest  and  self-love  induce  them 
to  make  every  eftbrt  to  retain  around  their  pulpits  the  thousands 
in  whom  unbridled  examination  and  unguided  judgment  has  de- 
stroyed faith,  and  as  the  exposition  of  doctrine  has  no  longer  any 
attraction  for  their  heresy,  they  hope  to  keep  them  Protestants 
by  filling  them  with  a  hatred  of  Catholicity,  The  false  pastors 
then  put  their  imagination  on  the  rack  to  vary  their  calumnies 
against  our  dogmas,  and  season  them  to  the  public  taste.  The 
public  mind  must  be  always  kept  in  suspense  by  dangling  in  its 
eyes  the  bugbear  of  Romanism,  ready  to  glut  itself  with  the  blood 
of  honest  Protestants.  When  a  fact  cannot  be  travestied  or  suo- 
cessfully  misrepresented,  they  invent  without  the  slightest  scruple 
or  fear  of  public  exposure,  a  fact  which  in  itself  is  a  strange  com- 
mentary on  a  public  community.  This  deplorable  system  can 
be  compared  only  to  the  manoeuvres  of  a  Merry  Andrew,  an- 
nouncing that  he  will  exhibit  in  his  tent  a  series  of  prodigies  out- 
doing each  other  in  the  marvellous;  or  else  to  the  course  of 
famous  novelists,  stimulating  the  curiosity  of  their  readers  by 
complications  of  intrigue  and  crime,  on  which  they  then  weave 
the  web  of  mystery. 

The  perio<l  from  1834  to  1844  beheld  this  anti-Cathohc  agita- 
tion extend  through  several  dioceses,  in  a  most  frightful  manner, 
and  at  last  result  in  Philadelphia  in  civil  war.  The  leaders  began 
by  reviving  the  stale  calumnies  as  to  the  intolerance  of  CathoUcs, 
and  the  game  opened  in  a  most  curious  way.  The  English  ver- 
sion of  the  New  Testament  used  by  Catholics  was  made  originally 
at  the  English  college  of  Rheims,  and  first  printed  in  1582. 
Although  the  text  has  undergone  vaiious  recensions,  and  the 

11 


242 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCfit 


WV:       ^ 


notes  of  the  Rhemish  tlieologians  have  long  been  omitted  and  re 
placed  by  those  of  Bishop  Challouer,  the  Testament  still  bears  the 
name  of  the  Rhemish  Testament,  as  the  whole  sacred  volume 
does  the  title  of  Douay  Bible.  In  this,  the  mere  result  of  habit, 
the  leaders  of  the  anti-Catholic  movement  thought  that  they  had 
discovered  a-  fijreat  secret.  Imagining,  in  their  delusion,  that  the 
old  Rhemish  Testament  was  still  circulating  among  the  Catholic 
clergy,  but  carefully  withheld  from  the  laity,  they  resolved  to  re- 
print it,  and  early  in  1 834  issued  their  edition  of  the  Rhemish 
Testament,  a  reprint  of  that  of  1582,  with  the  original  notes, 
described  in  the  "  introductory  address"  as  "  replete  with  impiety, 
irreligion,  and  the  most  fiery  persecution."  This  address  bears 
the  endorsement  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  Protestant  clergy- 
men, many  of  them  from  Princeton,  New  Brunswick,  and  Yale ; 
and  its  introductory  matter  will  ever  remain  a  monument  of  the 
ignorance  which  then  prevailed  as  to  bibliography  and  ecclesias- 
tical history,.  To  give  all  their  blunders  would  be  an  endless 
task ;  but  to  such  as  have  never  seen  the  curious  volume,  it  may 
be  suflBcient  to  state  that  in  their  wisdom  they  make  the  college 
of  Rheims  a  Jesuit  house,  when  it  was  the  very  centre  of  the 
English  secular  clergy,  actually  in  warm  controversy  with  the 
Jesuits.  They  say  that  the  Roman  priests  have  denied  the  value 
of  the  Douay  and  Rheims  translation.  They  admit  their  igno- 
rance of  even  the  names  of  the  translators ;  they  condemn  them 
(believe  it,  ye  men  of  classic  learning)  for  not  translating  tunic 
by  coat,  and  sandals  by  shoes/  They  charge  that  expurgated 
editions  only  have  been  allowed  to  appear  since  1816,  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  tv/o  Catholic  editions,  at  least,  were  printed  in 
this  country  before  that  date.  Alas  for  Princeton,  New  Bruns- 
wick, and  Yale !  This  eflfort  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  minis- 
ters was  a  complete  failure.  They  had  attempted  too  much,  and 
now  turned  with  greater  zest  to  a  subject  more  pleasant  and  less 
knotty — the  old  women's  tales  of  convents,  the  pseudo  horrors 


I 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


243 


committed  tliere,  the  ideal  tortures  to  whicli  the  nuns  are  sub- 
ject'^d  when  they  endeavor  to  escape.  For  several  months  minis- 
ters }elled  from  their  pulpits  these  pretended  descriptions  of  the 
licentiousness  of  Catholic  institutions.  New  England  was  the 
propitious  soil,  and  on  the  11th  of  August,  1834,  the  popular 
emotion  reached  a  proper  height.  The  mob  of  Boston  and  its 
suburbs  rushed  upon  the  Ursuhne  Convent  of  Mount  Benedict, 
and  destroyed  it  from  top  to  bottom  by  fire  and  pillage,  ransack- 
ing even  the  graves  of  the  dead.  The  court  of  pretended  justice 
might  acquit  the  rioters ;  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  might 
refuse  to  alloys  any  indemnity  for  the  destruction  it  had  permit- 
ted ;  but  a  committee  of  inquiry,  formed  by  Protestant  citizens, 
undertook  a  minute  investigation  to  appreciate  the  truth  of  the 
accusations  against  the  Ursulines.  Their  repoii  entirely  excul- 
pated the  ;  '"'^""uted  nuns,  and  showed  the  makers  of  discord  that 
they  must   >  ■  :<,   lew  arms  against  Catholicity. 

They  sought  then  to  justify  their  course,  and  an  anonymous 
committee  published  "  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  a  narrative  of 
pretended  enormities;  the  Lady  Superior  answered  it  trium- 
phantly, and  the  wits  of  Boston  in  travesties  held  up  the  reve- 
rend forgers  to  the  public  ridicule.  They  attempted  indeed  in 
a  supplement  to  regain  the  lost  ground,  but  it  was  too  late.* 

Soon  after  these  sad  scenes,  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  who  had 
urged  the  people  of  Boston  to  incendiarism  and  pillage,f  visited 


mmis- 
h,  and 
id  less 
Lorrors 


*  Seo  "Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  by  Rebecca  Theresa  Ecod.  Boston, 
1835.  It  was  published  to  operate  on  the  public  mind  at  the  time  of  the  trial 
of  the  rioters,  in  order  to  prejudice  the  public  against  the  nuns,  and  35,000 
copies  were  sold  in  a  few  days. 

The  Superior's  answer  is  entitled  "An  Answer  to  Six  Months  in  a  Con- 
<^ent,"  by  the  Lady  Superior.    Boston,  1855. 

See  also  "  Chronicles  of  Mount  Benedict,"  and  "  Six  Months  in  a  House 
of  Correction."  Boston,  Mussey,  1835.  An  admirable  satire  ;  and  finally 
"Supplement  to  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  by  the  Committee  of  Publica- 
tion.   Boston,  Eussell,  1885. 

^  In  proof  of  this  see  "Protestant  Jesuitism." 


244 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


it:    -fTl    ,.    : 


llie  Western  States,  and  there  published  a  work  in  which  he 
represents  the  CathoHcs  as  leagued  witli  the  despots  of  Europe  to 
destroy  the  hberties  of  America.  Morse,  whose  name  will  be 
ever  associated  with  th  telegraph,  espoused  the  same  idea  with 
all  the  fury  of  a  partisan,  and  in  his  "Brutus,  or  a  Foreign  Con- 
spiracy against  the  Liberties  of  the  United  States,"  sought  to 
excite  a  civil  war.*  But  even  this  failed  to  excite  the  people. 
Something  new  was  needed  to  increase  the  religious  irritation. 
Then  three  ministers,  the  Eev.  Messrs.  Bourne,  W.  C.  Brov.'nlee, 
and  J.  T.  Slocum,  took  under  their  protection  a  prostitute  of 
Montreal,  whom  they  transformed  into  a  nun  escaped  from  the 
Hotel  Dieu,  or  Hospital  in  that  city.  The  distinguished  publish- 
ing house  of  Harper  agreed  to  issue  their  inventions,  and  an 
infamous  book  entitled  "  Awful  Disclosures  of  Maria  Monk " 
appeared,  ostensibly  published  by  Howe  &  Bates,  and  contain- 
ing the  pretended  revelations  of  Maria.  In  this  work,  written 
it  would  seem  by  a  Mr.  Timothy  Dwight,  the  nuns  of  the  Hotel 
Dieu  are  accused  of  the  most  revolting  crin.'3s,  such  as  stifling 
children  between  mattresses,  and  putting  to  death  novices  who 
refused  to  partake  in  their  debar  .'liery  with  the  priests  of  the 
seminary  of  Montreal.  In  vain  +lie  whole  press  of  Canada, 
Fi-otestant  as  well  as  Catholic,  ".nmasked  the  imposture  in  all  its 
details.  The  Avhole  hfe  of  the  heroine  was  traced  from  her 
cradle  to  her  illicit  connection  with  a  Rev.  Mr.  Hoyte,  and  her 
departure  with  him  from  Montreal.  It  was  proved  that  she 
never  was  in  the  Hotel  Dieu,  either  as  a  nun  or  even  as  a  ser- 
vant; on  the  contrary,  that  she  had  been  sent  away  from  a 
Magdalene  asylum,  and  that  the  descriptions  in  the  book  'tally 
at  variance  with  the  Hotel  Dieu,  correspond  with  the  Magda- 
lene Asylum ;  that  the  names  of  the  pretended  nuns  are  really 


*  Plea  for  the  West,  hj  Lyman  Bccolier.  Cincinnati.  Brutiis,  or  a 
Foreign  Conspiracy  against  the  Liberties  of  the  United  States  :  by  C.  F.  B. 
Morse.    New  York,  Leavitt,  1835. 


IN  T^E   UNITED  STATE3. 


245 


those  of  her  fellow-penitents  within  the  asylum.*  In  spite  of 
all  this  refutation,  the  ministers  and  Protestarit  Association  of 
New  York  extended  protection  and  iufluenoe  to  the  vile  instru- 
ment of  their  religious  hate.  One  alone  protested :  Colonel 
Wm.  L.  Stone,  Editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  at  New 
York,  went  with  some  other  gentlemen  to  Montreal  after 
inviting  Maria  Monk  and  her  friends  to  join  them.  There,  book 
in  hand,  they  examined  the  Hotel  Dieu,  and  were  so  completely 
satisfied  that  Maria  Monk  had  never  been  there,  that  on  his 
return  Col.  Stone  published  a  withering  exposnre  of  the  gigantic 
Iraud.f  Still  the  concoctors  of  the  work  held  out,  confident  in 
the  uni'easoning  bigotry  of  the  masses  ;  two  editions  of  the  vile 
volume,  each  of  40,000  copies,  were  rapidly  sold,  and  a  second 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Maria  Monk,  more  infamous  and 
mendacious  still  than  the  first  fable  of  the  courtesan.;}; 

So  profitable  was  the  mart  of  Protestant  credulity  that  new 
impostors  came  to  compete  with  Brownlee,  Slocum,  Monk,  and 
Harper,  now  engaged  in  a  fierce  lawsuit,  in  which  all  swore  to 
the  authorship  and  ownership  of  the  book.  Frances  Partridge 
appeared  also  as  a  runaway  nun  from  the  convent,  and  the  ren- 
egade priest,  Samuel  B.  Smith,  published,  under  the  name  of 
Rosanwnd  Clifford,  an  obscene  romance  pretending  to  unveil  the 
turpitudes  of  the  confessional. § 

*  See  "  Awful  Exposure  of  the  atrocious  plot  formed  by  certain  individ- 
uals against  the  Clergy  and  Nuns  of  Lower  Canada,  through  tlie  intervention 
of  Maria  Monk."  Now  York.  Printed  for  Jones  &  Co.,  of  Montreal,  1830, 
p.  71. 

t  See  Maria  Monk  and  the  Nnnnery  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  being  an  account 
of  a  visit  to  the  convents  of  Montreal,  and  refutation  of  the  "  awful  disdo- 
Burcs,"  by  ^\'In.  L.  Stone.     New  York,  Howe  &  Bates,  lS3i5,48,  49. 

X  Farther  Disclosures  by  Maria  Monk,  concerning  the  Hotel  Diei;  Nun- 
nery of  Montreal.  Also  her  visits  to  the  Nun's  Island,  and  disclosures  con- 
corning  the  secret  retreat.     New  York,  published  for  Maria  Monk,  iS37. 

§  For  another  attempt  of  Maria  Monk,  and  its  exposure,  see  "  An  expo- 
Buro  of  "Maria  Monk's  pretended  abduction  and  conveyance  to  tlie  Catholic 
Asylum,  rhiladelphia,  by  six  priests,  on  the  night  of  August  loth,  1S37." 


.Hi 


I 


■i" 


I   -I 


I- 


i; 

n 


I      ! 


246 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


"  It  would  seem,  indeed,"  says  Colouel  Stone,  "  as  though 
these  people  had  yielded  themselves  to  this  species  of  mono- 
mania, and  from  mere  habit  they  yield  a  willing  credence  to 
any  story  against  the  Roman  Catholics,  no  matter  what  or  by 
whom  related,  so  that  it  be  sufficiently  horrible  and  revolting  in 
its  detail  of  licentiousness  and  blood.  It  is  melancholy  to  con- 
template such  credulity,  and  such  deplorable  fanaticism,  and  yet 
the  instances  are  multiplied  wherein  such  delusion  has  been 
wrought  by  the  passionate  appeals  of  the  anti-Papist  presses. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  denied  that  such  publications  as  are  now  deluging 
the  country,  fomenting  the  popular  prejudices  and  appealing  to 
the  basest  passions  of  our  nature — teeming  as  they  do  with  loath- 
some and  disgusting  details  of  criminal  voluptuousness,  under 
the  garb  of  religion,  are  ominous  of  fearful  results,  especially 
from  their  influence  upon  the  rising  generation  of  both  sexes." 

"  The  people  of  this  land,"  says  the  author  of  Protestant 
Jesuitism,  "and  it  is  a  common  attribute  of  human  nature — 
love  excitement,  and  unfortunately  there  are  those  who  know 
how  to  produce  it,  and  profit  by  it.  AVhen  the  bulletin,  an- 
nouncing the  papal  invasion  of  our  shores  and  territory,  has 
spent  its  influence,  because  the  enemy  cannot  be  scon,  in  cornea 
Miss  Reed's  '  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,'  and  the  Ursuline  School 
is  in  flames !     When  this  is  well  digested — which,  it  must  be 

By  W.  H.  Sleigh,  Philadelphia,  1837.  To  form  porno  idea  of  the  literature 
of  that  day,  we  give  the  titles  of  eome  other  faimtical  publications  of  the 
period.  Not  a  month  passed  without  beholding  a  new  pani'  .ilet,  surpassing 
its  predecessors  in  its  vile  calumnies  of  Catholic  institutions  : 

"  Louise,  or  the  Canadian  Nun," 

"Life  of  Scipio  Eicci,  the  Jansenist  Bishop  of  Pistoia,"  another  scanda- 
lous picture  of  convent  life. 

"  Synopsis  of  Popery,"  by  S.  B.  Smith.  New  York,  183G.  The  author 
still  lives.     God  grant  him  grace  to  repent. 

"  Open  Convents,"  by  Timothy  Dwight,  the  author  of  the  volume  bearing 
the  name  of  Maria  Monk. 

"  Popery  as  it  was  and  is,"  by  William  Ilogan. 

•'Papal  Eome  aa  it  is,"  by  Kev.  L.  Giustiniani. 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


247 


though 


confessed  had  in  it  some  substantial  nutriment,  though  a  good 
deal  of  'ardent  spirit,'  producing  no  small  measure  of  intoxica- 
tion— then  comes  Maria  Monk,  one  of  the  most  arrant  fictions 
that  was  ever  palmed  upon  the  community.  But  the  appetite  is 
good,  and  it  is  all  swallowed.  Close  upon  the  heels  of  this 
comes  'Rosamond's  Narrative,'  suiiported  and  commended  by 
the  veritable  ccrtiticatcs  of  reverend  divines — illustrated  with 
plates — all  for  the  instruction  and  benefit  of  our  children  and 
youth  of  both  sexes — to  be  found  all  over  the  land  on  the  same 
table  with  the  Bible  !"* 

Under  the  sway  of  the  agitation  fomented  by  these  incendiary 
or  immoral  publications,  Protestant  Associations  were  formed  in 
all  the  cities  of  the  Union,  with  the  avowed  object  of  protecting 
the  liberties  of  the  country  against  the  plots  of  the  Pope !  That 
in  Philadelphia  contained  eighteen  ministers;  and  the  first 
pledge  into  M'hich  the  conspirators  entered,  was  never  to  employ 
Catholic  workmen  or  servants,  and  never  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  Catholic  orphans.  It  was  a  conspiracy  against 
poverty  and  misfortune.  The  pulpits  of  error  renewed  their 
fanatical  appeals,  and  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodman,  a  v.-orthy  Epis- 
copal clergyman,  says,  in  his  just  indignation :  "  Congregations 
instead  of  being  taught  from  the  pulpit  t«  >.torn  their  profession 
by  all  the  lovely  graces  of  the  Gospel,  by  kind  and  affectionate 
bearing  in  the  world,  by  earnest  and  ever  active  endeavors  to 
secure  for  themselves  and  othei's,  the  blessings  of  peace,  were 
annoyed  with  inflammatory  harangues  upon  the  '  great  apostasy,' 
,^'-  ■  upon  abominations  of  the  Roman  Church."  "  The  Pope, 
ana  the  Pope,  and  <he  Pope !"  was  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  the  sermons  in  certain  churches,  and  the  women  and  children 
were  frightened  with  the  details  of  the  wicked  doings  of  "him 
of  Rome ;"  whilst  they  of  the  stature  of  men,  were  held  breath- 


h 


*  "  Protestant  Jesuitism,"  by  a  Protestant.    New  York,  Harpers,  1838,  p.  84. 


248 


THE   CATHOLIC  CIIUIICII 


M  i 


'  1 3 


less  (•;ij)tlvcs  wlicn  tlu;'  wcni  ji<Mrcss(;(l  hy  tlicsc  onilors  upon 
tlic  sul)j('('t  ol  I'l.p.'il  u><ih'[)!iti()iis,  aiid  the;  ccelosiasticiil  doiuiiiii- 
lioii  (U)iitoinjilati'(l  l>y  "  Aiili-CIirist"  in  AiiiiMicii.  'J'lit'y  wero 
ti)l(l  t)  it  tlioro  was  not  a  Cat'  >lic  cluiich,  that  had  not  uuclcr- 
iioath  it  ])r(ii)aro(l  coils  for  Protestant  JK'rctios;  tliat  every  priest 
was  a  Jesuit  in  disguise;  that  the  .l*opo  was  coniinj^  to  this 
country  witli  an  army  of  cassoeked  foUowers,  and  that  each 
wouKl  be  fully  arinetl  witli  weapons,  concealed  under  the  folds 
of  his  "  Babylonibli  robes."  Never  did  Titus  Gates  detail  inoro 
liorrid  conspiracies,  in  virtue  of  his  station  as  informer-general, 
than  did  these  (derical  sei\tincls;  and  all  that  wud  wanting  was 
the  power,  and  such  a  judge  as  .lelTries,  to  nndvo  every  Catholic 
expiate  liic  "  abominable  heresy  "  upon  the  scaftold  or  amid  the 
llanies.* 

But  the  ordinary  preaching  of  the  ministers  always  bearing  on 
the  same  subject,  wearied  their  hearers,  without  heating  them  to 
the  degree  of  hatred  to  which  they  wished  to  bring  them.  They 
then  sought  to  discover  sonic  apostate  from  Catholicity  whoso 
revelations  would  be  racy  enough  to  stimulate  curiosity.  Then, 
if  a  wretched  priest  had  been  weak  enough  to  yield  to  his  pas- 
sions, be  silenced  by  his  bishop,  the  unfortunate  man  was  sur- 
rounded at  once  by  all  the  allurements  of  heresy.  A  pension 
was  oftercd,  a  wife  was  proposed,  case  and  rank  assured  him, 
provided  lie  came  forward  as  a  Protestant — provided  especially 
that  he  consented  to  go  from  town  to  town  like  some  stran<>'0 
"  beast,"  and  lecture  on  the  mysteries  of  the  Confessional.  But 
as  the  United  States  do  not  produce  apostates  enough  for  the 
supply,  as  these  vile  instnnnents  are  soon  useless  in  the  hands  of 

*  The  Truth  Unveiled.  Baltimore,  1844,  p.  18.  The  antlior,  the  Rev.  M. 
Goodmiui,  published  iibout  the  same  tiino  tlie  "  Olivo  Erauch,"  a  warm  np- 
]>eal  to  couoord,  to  which  the  fanatics  turned  a  deaf  ear.  These  remarkahlo 
tracts  were  cited  by  Bishop  Spalding  in  an  able  article  in  the  U.  S.  Catholic 
Magazine,  1845,  p.  1-16,  and  published  in  hit*  Miscellany.  An  article  which 
ha3  served  greatly  in  the  composition  of  this  chapter. 


M 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATICS. 


21!) 


tlii'ir  C'lnjtloyors,  ihvy  send  to  liluropc  to  get  uu  outt^.-ist  of  tlio 
R.'iticliiHiy;  i;ilKo  ccrtilicjituH  ofonliimtioii  aro  got  up  for  men  who 
never  jipproaclied  an  altar,  but  wlio  wisli  to  act,  tlie  pari  of  vic- 
lims  of  the  Tncpiisition  ;  these  aro  tauglit  to  rehito  a  tlioiisand 
iurpitudcH  as  to  tlieir  preten<lecl  career,  like  the  bird  in  Scriptnro 
that  defiled  the  nest  in  which  it  had  been  hatched.  A  book 
appears  in  his  nanuf  (it  is  always  the  same,  un(h'r  a  different 
name)  against  tl'.3  Inquisition,  Confession,  Cleiical  (Jelibacy,  tho 
Papacy,  the  rultns  of  tho  Jilessed  Virgin  and  tho  Saints;  then 
th(!y  drop  into  oblivion  these  heroes  of  a  (hiy,  who  are  useless 
Avhen  tlx^y  can  no  longer  give  scandal.  They  are  poisonous 
fruits,  out  of  which  the  vonoi  •.  has  been  pressed,  ami  tho  insipid 
pulp  of  wliich  is  fit  only  tc  bo  cast  into  tlio  fh'o  of  earth  and 
heaven. 

Thus  successively  appeared  in  the  United  States  tho  Ifogans, 
Smiths,  (Jinstiniani,  Toodors,  and  Leahys.  I'he  last  took  tho 
part  of  an  ex-Trappist ;  and  as  ho  became  more  celebrated  than 
tho  others,  it  may  not  bo  amiss  to  give  some  outline  of  his  life. 
Leahy  never  was  a  monk  of  La  Ti'app(!,  nor  of  any  other  ordijr. 
]Ie  began  life  as  a  farmer's  boy  at  Templemore,  in  Indand  ;  ho 
then  entered  as  a  servant  into  the  employment  of  tho  Trapj>ists 
of  Mount  Melloray;  but  remained  oidy  a  few  months  there, 
lleturuing  to  Templemore,  he  succeeded  in  getting  a  sum  of 
money  from  the  parish  pnest,  by  pretending  that  ho  had  been 
sent  by  the  Trappists,  who  were  totally  out  of  food.  A\'ith  this 
money  ho  made  his  way  to  tho  United  States,  where  he  married 
a  good  girl,  who  soon  had  to  leave  him,  as  she  found  ho  was  en- 
deavoring to  sell  her  virtue.  He  then  went  to  Mfirshall  College, 
representing  himself  as  a  convert  to  Protestantism  ;  but  tlio 
lionorablc  directors  of  that  institution  were  not  duped  by  his  hy- 
pocrisy— they  refused  him  all  assistance.  Other  ministers  were 
not  so  delicate  in  the  choice  of  their  instruments ;  and  thu? 
Leahy  was  enabled  for  a  period  of  ten  years  to  play  the  part  of 

n* 


250 


tup:  CATiioT-ic  criuucii 


ni 


an  ex-monk,  nnd  have  churches  and  pulpifs  opened  to  liini,  to 
thunder  against  Cathoheity  and  the  morals  of  the  cleru;y.     Hiir- 
u\<r  til  is  sli.imeful  peregrination,  Leahy  married  and  rcpuiliati-d 
four  wives,  ono  of  whom  was  crippled  ibr  life  by  the  blows  she 
received  from'liim  in  a  fit  of  jealous  frenzy.     We  need  not  men- 
tion the  i)ther  victims  of  his  passions,  avIio  were  not  even  solaced 
by  any  pretence  of  marriage  ;  the  list  would  be  too  long.     Jn 
spite  (»f  his  disorders,  Lealiy  held  on  liis  scandalous  sei-mons,  and 
the  apostate's  arrival  in  a  town  was  always  followed  by  scenes  of 
violence  between  the  impostor's  defenders  and  the  Trish,  who  en- 
deavored to  silence  the  vile  calumniator  of  their  daughters  and 
sisters,  whom  he  represented  as  victims  in  the  confessional.     The 
bishops  prevented  greater  evils,  only  by  preaching  patience  and 
resignation,  and  going  among  their  flocks  to  calm  their  minds  and 
liearts.    At  last,  Leahy's  public  life  terminated  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  its  outset.     On  the  20th  of  August,  1852,  ho  appeared  in  a 
AVisconsin  court  to  accuse  his  friend  Manly  of  seducing  liis  wife. 
^Nfanly  was  acfjuitted,  and  Leahy,  in  tlie  very  midst  of  the  couit, 
shot  his  rival  dead,  and  with  a  second  shot  wounded  a  lawyer, 
who  ruslicd  forward  to  stop  him,* 

Even  these  courses  of  disorder  did  not  satisfy  the  fanatics,  and 
the  arsenal  of  falsehood  soon  furnished  them  new  arms  against 
the  Catholics.  The  latter  were  now  accused  of  wishing  to  ex- 
clude  the   I^ible  from  the   public   schools,  and  the  thousand- 


*  As  capital  punishment  is  iibolishcd  in  Wisconsin,  Leahy  was  condemned 
to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  he  is  now  expiatinjif  his  crime  in  the  State 
I^rison  at  Fond  du  Lac.  The  solitude  of  his  cell  seems  to  have  inspired  this 
^'uilty  man  with  salutary  reflections,  and  for  eij^iiteen  months  Leahy  im- 
]ilorcd  to  bo  received  into  the  Church.  Bishop  Ilcnni  subjected  him  to  a 
lonf.'  probation,  and  at  last  the  Eev.  Louis  Dael  was  authorized  to  receive 
once  more  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church  tlie  guilty  but  now  repentant  man. 
Tlie  ceremony  took  place  on  the  20th  of  January,  1856.  The  way  of  the 
transgressor  is  hard ;  and  Leahy,  in  his  disgrace,  finds  how  hollow  is  the 
friendship  which  hurried  him  to  crime,  and  how  great  is  the  love  of  that 
Church  which  he  had  wronged. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


251 


him,  (o 
'.     Dnr- 

pudiatcd 
ows  slio 
not  inen- 
solacod 
ii.u:.     In 
•ns,  and 
scenes  of 
who  cu- 
llers and 
al.     The 
?neo  and 
linds  and 
)!•  worthy 
red  in  a 
Ills  w  ife. 
he  court, 
I  la\\ycr, 

itics,  and 
i  against, 
y  to  ex- 
lousand- 


iUilcmncd 
the  State 
pirod  this 
eahy  im- 
h'lm  to  n 
0  receive 
tint  man. 
ly  of  tho 
)W  18  tho 
3  of  that 


ionguod  press  propagated  and  commented  on  the  charge.  The 
Native  Amv'rican  party  was  formed  to  defend  the  Bible  attacked 
by  "  foreign  papists."  Monster  meetings  are  called,  and  roused 
to  fury  by  incendiary  appeals.  The  Bible  is  solemnly  borne  in 
political  processions,  and  thousands  of  braving  arms  are  raised  to 
swear  to  protect  the  Holy  Book  against  tho  pretended  attacks  of 
the  Irish.  At  the  head  of  f'losc  manifestations  in  Philadelphia  was 
a  ci-devant  Jew,  Levin,  who  at  a  late  date  is  conspicuous  among  the 
Know-Nothings  of  1855.  The  accusation  was  false,  like  all  the 
other  calumnies  of  the  enemies  of  God's  Church,  and  the  Con- 
trollers of  the  Public  Schools  of  Philadeli»hia,  in  the  twenty- 
sixth  Annual  Report,  declare  officially  :  "  No  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  by  any  one  in  this  Board,  nor  have  th<i  Controllers 
ever  been  asked  by  any  sect,  person,  or  persons,  to  exclude  the 
Bible  from  the  Public  Schools." 

The  fact  was,  that  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia,  who,  like  their 
Protestant  fellow-citizens,  paid  taxes  to  suppoi't  the  Public  Schools, 
wished  to  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience  in  the  education  of  their 
children.  They  did  not  ask  to  exclude  the  Bible,  but  they  wished 
it  to  be  lawful  for  Catholic  children  to  read  the  Catholic  version 
of  the  Scriptures;  and  this  just  request  had  been  favorably  re- 
ceived by  tho  controllers  of  the  schools,  when  the  animosity  of 
the  Natives  found  it  their  game  to  misrepresent  the  question,  and 
make  it  a  war-cry  against  the  Catliolics.  In  order  to  provoke  the 
Irish,  all  the  Native  meetings  were  c{\lled  in  parts  more  especially 
inhabited  by  Catholics,  and  the  latter  were  thus  forced  to  listen 
to  all  the  abuse  vomited  forth  in  public  on  all  that  they  held  «a- 
cred  and  venerable.  On  the  3d  of  May,  1844,  an  anti-Catholic 
meeting  at  Philadelphia  was  disturbed  by  the  indignant  cries  of 
the  Irish,  but  the  disorder  went  no  further  than  it  does  every  day 
in  popular  assemblies.  Yet  no  better  pretext  was  needed  to  ac- 
celerate the  explosion,  and  the  pretext  was  found.  On  the  6th, 
armed  crowds  hasten  to  the  Irish  quarter,  and  the  battle  began. 


i'l 


1  - ;  H 

|-; 

h 

m  ^ 

»i  j 

252 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHU1U;I1 


'  I 


On  tlio  moriiing  of  the  7th,  an  svldn'ss  of  Hi^liop  Konrirk  \\m 
jiosti'd  up  throiiH;lio\it  tliu  city,  oxliorfinjij  tlio  Citholics  "  to  fol- 
low pcac*',  and  have  charily."  'I'hosc  wcnj  innnt'diately  torn 
down  hy  tho  NutivcH,  whom  tli«  rnoriiin<^  papers  called  to  arms: 
"Thu  bloody  hiind  of  (ho  Pope  is  upon  us,"  said  tht'so  shocts ; 
"  tho  model  .  St.  liartholomcvv  has  Ih'j^vui  ;  the  Irish  papists  have 
risen  to  massacre  us."  While  fire  and  murder  desolate  tho  Ken- 
sington  suburb,  a  meeting  was  hoM  in  anotluu'  part  of  tho  city 
with  a  Proteslant  minister  in  the  chair.  Resolutions  were  passed 
approving  the  steps  of  the  Natives,  and  they  adjourned  by  accla- 
mation to  tho  scene  of  tho  riot,  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  assail- 
ants. Many  houses  occupied  by  Irisli  fanviiies  were  in  ashes; 
women  and  (diildren  fled  to  the  country,  without  clothing  ^r 
food  ;  others  are  burned  alive  in  their  burning  homes,  or  fall 
dead,  pierced  by  a  volley  .'is  they  attempted  to  esca}>e.  Terror 
reigned  throughout  the  city,  and  the  inhabitants,  in  self-defence, 
wrote  on  their  doors,  "  No  popery  here,"  or  coarse  insults  to  tho 
Catholics. 

On  the  8tli,  the  rioters  still  ruled  tlie  city,  and  at  two  o'clock 
J'.  M.  St.  Michael's  Churcli  was  in  flames.  The  champions  of  re- 
ligious liberty  ajiplauded  during  the  conflagration,  and  one  papei 
says  :  "  When  the  cross  which  surmounted  the  church  fell  info 
the  flames,  the  crowd  hurraed  in  triumph,  and  the  fife  and  drmu 
struck  up  Orange  airs."  At  four  o'clock  the  incendiary  torch 
was  applied  to  the  house  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  which  was  soon  consumed.  This  Order  had  been  insti- 
tuted by  tho  zeal  of  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Donoghoe,  at  the  very  timo 
of  the  cholera,  and  their  devotedness  in  nursing  the  victims  of  tho 
epidemic  was  so  great,  that  the  municipal  body  publicly  testified 
their  city's  gratitude,  oftering  them  any  recompense  they  desired. 
The  Sisters  of  Charity  refused  these  propositions,  and  soon  found 
their  reward  in  the  ingratitude  of  their  fellow-citizens.  At  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  St.  Augustine's  Church  was  fired  in  its 


Hi.. 


J 

IN  THE   UNITED    STATES.                           253 

■i»'k  wsxH 

% 

turn,   logctlicr  with   tho   rectory.     Tho  precious  library  of  (ho 

"  to  fol- 

'  1 

Ilorniits  of  8t.  Aiigustine  wa«  plundered,  and  tho  books  j)ilcd  up 

I'ly  toiti 

1 

and  burnt.     During  tho  cholera,  tho  parsonngo  had  been  trans- 

o niins: 

If 

formed  into  a  hospital  for  the  people  of  I'hiladelphia,  and  tho 

hIio'Ih  ; 

liev.  Mr.  Goodman,  in  the  pamphlet  alreaily  cited,  says : 

sis  liHve 

"  With  confusion  of  face,  yet  with  impartial  justice  before 

ho  KcMi- 

men  and  angels,  the  writer  will  state  that  in  the  season  of  that 

tlio  city 

terrible  scourge,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hurley,  priest  of  St.  Augustine's, 

('  passed 

converted  the  Rectory,  then  in  his  occupancy,  into  a  Cholera 

•y  accla- 

Hospital,  and  placed  it  under  the  control  of  the  proner  authori- 

i  assfiil- 

ties.     The  doors  of  his  quiet  home  were  thrown    wide  open  ; 

ashcs  ; 

and  unmindful  of  tho  inconvenience  to  which  such  an  act  sub- 

liing  nr 

j(!cted   liim,   ho  not  only  invited  tho  guardians  of  the  citv  .s 

',  or  fall 

liealth  to  deposit  tho  victims  of  the  pestilence  in  his  house,  but 

To  nor 

liimself  was  employed  without  intermission  in  seeking  out  tho 

(l''t('nw, 

wretched  creatures  upon  whom  tho  dreadful  disease  liad  fa'Vn  ! 

t«  to  tho 

Every  room    in  his  mansion  was  appropriated  to  this  <'ivJim 

work ;  his  own  chamber  was  given  to  tho  dying,  and  that  study, 

o'clock 

where  ho  had  learned  his  Master's  will,  was  made  the  practical 

IS  of  rc- 

(!ommentary  of  the  judgment  lie  had  formed  of  it.     Out  of 

le  p.-ipci 

three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  patients,  which  had  boon  received 

I'll  into 

in  this  private  Asylum  of  a  heavenly  charity,  forty-eight  only 

d  drinu 

were  Catholics — the  remainder  were  professing  Protestants." 

•y  torch 

"Go  to  that  Rcctoiy;  mark  that  it  is  in  ruins; — that  the  very 

Blessod 

liospital  has  been  burnt  by  miscreants,  who  dared  to  profane  the 

n  iusti- 

name  of  Protestantism  when  they  applied  the  iO;.  h  to  the  home 

ry  timo 

of  Catholic  priests."* 

s  of  tho                      ^ 

On   the  blackened  walls    of  St.  Augustine's   Church    there 

cstificd 

remained  only  the  inscription,  "  The  Lord  Seeth." 

iesired. 

At  last,  on  the  9tli   of  May,  martial  law  was  proclaimed   in 

1  found 

I'hiladelphia;  the  military  commander  ordered  the  rioters  to 

At  six 

in  its 

*  Tlic  Tratli  Unveiled  by  a  Protestant  and  Native  Fhiladclphian.    Balti- 

( 

more,  1844,  p.  21. 

254 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Ji- 


1*? 


.11' 


disperse  in  five  minutes,  and  order  was  restored  as  soon  as  the 
brigands  saw  that  the  authorities  were  resolved  to  put  a  stop  to 
their  fury.     The  least  display  of  energy  would  Lave  produced 
the  same  result  three  days  before ;  but  the  disorder  must  reach 
its  heiaht  before  authorities  will  come  forward  to  protect  tlie 
Catholic.     On  the  6th  of  May  the  militia  had  refused  to  tali    up 
arms  unless  paid  in  advance.     They  obeyed  the  call  on  the  Vth, 
but  the  rioters  defied  the  troops  to  use  their  arms,  and  at  the 
command  "  Fire,"  the  soldiers  replied,  "  How  can  we  fire  on  our 
brethren !"     St.  Michael's  Church  was  burnt  before  the  eyes  of 
the  militia  without  their  offering  any  resistance.     In  the  very 
worst  of  the  plunder  and  conflagratioUj  the  Mayor  and  Sheriff 
had  a  consultation  with  the  Attorney-General,  to  know  whether 
they  had  a  right  to  use  force,  and  what  degree  of  force,  to  put 
down  the  riot!     The  legal  functionary  told  them  that  they 
could  employ  force,  and  just  as  much  as  was  necessary :  "  lie 
knows  that  the  power  has  been  sometimes  questioned,  but  he 
thinks  that  on  the  whole  he  would  employ  just  the  degree  of 
force  indispensable."     When  the  disorder  ceased  rather  from 
lassitude  than  from  its  being  repressed,  the  tactics  of  the  author- 
ities were  to  dissemble  its  importance.     They  sought  to  convey 
the  idea  that  it  had  been  the  affair  of  a  few  boys ;  and  the 
Mayor  issued  a  proclamation  calling  on  parents  to  keep  their 
children  at  home.     In  the  investigation  instituted  to  account  for 
these  deplorable  events,  the  Grand  Jury  did  not  fail  to  throw  the 
first  blame  on  the  Catholics,  and  they  saw  the  cause  of  the  riots 
— we  will  quote  their  very  words — in  "  the  efforts  of  a  portion 
of  the  community  to  exclude  the  Bible  from  our  Public  Schools  : 
the  jury  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  efforts  in  some  measure 
gave  rise  to  the  formation  of  a  new  party,  which  called  and  held 
public  meetings  in  the  District  of  Kensington,  in  the  peaceful 
exercise  of  the  sacred  rights  and  privileges  guaranteed  to  every 
citizen  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  our  State  and  country. 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


255 


IS  the 
[top  to 
kluced 
I  reach 
•t  tJie 


li 


up 


"7 


These  meetings  were  rudely  disturbed  and  fired  upon  by  a  band 
of  laAvless,  irresponsible  men,  some  of  whora  had  resided  in  our 
country  only  for  a  short  period.  This  outrage,  causing  the 
death  of  a  number  of  our  unoffending  citizens,  led  to  immediate 
retaliation,  and  was  followed  up  by  subsequent  acts  of  aggression 
in  violation  and  open  defiance  of  all  law."* 

At  this  shameful  attempt  to  exonerate  the  Natives  at  their 
expense,  the  Catholics  called  a  meeting  and  made  an  address  to 
their  fellow-citizens  to  restore  the  facts  in  their  truth.  They 
had  no  diflSculty  in  proving  that  the  first  victims  were  Irishmen, 
and  that  the  Catholics  had  never  made  any  attempts  to  exclude 
the  Bible  from  the  public  schools.f  Men  of  good  faith  were 
convinced;  but  incendiaries  never  fouu  i  recruits  in  their  ranks; 
and  the  want  of  energy  in  repressing  the  violence  soon  evoked 
another  riot  in  another  district  of  Philadelphia. 

On  Friday,  the  5th  of  July,  1844,  the  pastor  of  St.  Philip 
Neri's  Church,  in  the  Southwavk  suburb,  was  warned  that  his 
church  would  be  attacked  the  following  night.  The  Governor 
of  the  State  having  authorized  the  formation  of  additional  com- 
panies of  militia,  one  had  been  formed  in  the  congregation  of 
this  church  and  its  armory  was  in  the  basement.  Meetings  were 
at  once  called  to  avenge  this  provocation  of  the  Catholics.  The 
Sheriff  went  to  the  church,  and  seized  the  arms !  but  the  crowd 
was  not  satisfied,  and  insisted  that  a  delegation  of  their  body 
should  examine  the  church  to  see  that  no  arms  are  concealed  there. 
Gratified  on  this  point,  as  they  have  invariably  been  in  attacks 
on  Catholic  churches  in  the  United  States,  the  crowd  instead  of 
dispersing,  became  doubly  bold ;  they  threatened  to  renew  the 
scenes  of  May.     General  Cadwallader  called  out  the  militia  and 


*  Presentment  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  tlie  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of 
May  Term,  1844. 

t  Address  of  Catholic  lay  citizens  of  tiio  city  and  county  of  Phila- 
ielphia. 


"'-tmm 


256 


THE  CATII^MC  CHURCH 


ordered  the  crowd  to  disperse ;  but  the  Honorable  Charles  Nay- 
lor,  an  ex-member  of  Congress  ordered  out :  "  Do  not  fire  on 
the  people,"  and  harangued  the  troops  to  induce  them  to  diso- 
bey their  officers.  But  the  orator  was  soon  arrested  and  con- 
fined in  the  basement  of  the  church.  Tlie  rioters  then  brought 
up  two  field-pieces,  and  charging  them  with  blocks  of  wood, 
drove  in  the  church  doors  and  rescued  Naylor.  They  dis- 
armed the  Montgomery  Hibernian  Greens  who  had  been  left 
in  charge  of  the  prisoners ;  they  command  them  to  retire ; 
but  treacherously  attack  them  as  they  withdrew,  and  cut  down 
several. 

General  Cadwallader,  who  here  laid  the  foundations  of  his 
military  fame,  afterwards  so  glorious  in  the  Mexican  War,  now 
came  to  the  relief  of  his  guard,  and  a  brisk  cannonade  began. 
On  Monday,  the  riot  still  continued,  and  the  civil  authorities  of 
Southwark,  unable  to  quell  it,  made  terms.  The  troor-s  were 
withdrawn,  and  by  dint  of  proclamations,  and  appeals  to  con- 
cord, by  dint  of  lauding  the  intelligence  of  the  masses  and  their 
respect  for  the  law,  the  authorities  succeeded  in  calming  the 
effervescence  and  restoring  order  by  disorder. 

Such  were  the  Philadelphia  riots,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Good- 
man characterizes  in  these  terms  :  "  Nativism  has  existed  for  a 
period  hardly  reaching  five  months,  and  in  that  time  of  its 
being,  what  has  been  seen  ?  Two  Catholic  churches  burned, 
one  twice  fired  and  desecrated,  a  Catholic  seminary  and  retreat 
consumed  by  the  torches  of  an  incendiary  mob,  two  rectories 
and  a  most  valuable  library  destroyed,  forty  dwellings  in  ruins, 
about  forty  human  lives  sacrificed,  and  sixty  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens wounded ;  riot,  and  rebellion,  and  treason  rampant  on  two 
occasions  in  our  midst ;  the  laws  boldly  set  at  defiance,  and 
peace  and  order  prostrated  by  ruflian  violence  ! !  These  are  the 
horrid  everts  which  have  taken  jilace  among  us  since  the  organ- 
ization; and  they  are  mentioned  lor  no  other  purpose,  tlian  that 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


257 


I'les  IVay- 
t  fire  on 
1  to  diso- 
and  con- 
brought 
of  wood, 
'liey  dis- 
)een  left 
retire ; 
ut  down 

s  of  his 
ar,  now 
began, 
rities  of 
'jS  were 
to  con- 
id  tlieir 
ing  the 

.  Good- 
d  for  a 

of  its 
•nrned, 
retreat 
etories 

ruins, 
w-citi- 
n  two 
,  and 
•c  tlio 
rgan- 
i  that 


•(I 


9V> 


reflection  be  entered  upon  by  the  community,  which  has  been 
so  immeasurably  disgraced  by  these  terrible  acts."* 

Rarely  does  justice  in  the  United  States  overtake  the  guilty 
in  these  popular  eruptions;  but  public  opinion  finally  sides  with 
the  victims  of  fanaticism ;  and  when  oppression  assumes  too 
iniquitous  a  foi'm,  a  reaction  is  sure  to  show  itself  in  favor  of  the 
weak  and  persecuted.  The  Catholics  experienced  this  change 
in  the  feelings  of  the  Nation;  and  as  we  have  shown  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  they  were  in  1846  more  free  in  the  exercise  ot 
their  worship  and  more  respected  in  their  faith,  than  at  any 
previous  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
present  moment  the  period  of  anti-Catholic  agitation  begins 
anew,  and  the  ministers  of  error  have  recourse  to  their  old  tricks 
to  fetter  the  wonderful  progress  of  the  Church.  Gavazzi  plays 
Leahy's  part.  Miss  Bn.ikley  that  of  Miss  Reed ;  pamphlets  arc 
scattered  around  to  denounce  the  pretended  crimes  of  convent 
life.  The  unoflfending  visit  of  a  venerable  Nuncio  is  cited  as  a 
living  proof  of  the  Pope's  designs  on  the  liberties  of  America. 
Lamentations  begin  about  the  Bible,  and  the  Protestant  faithful 
are  called  upon  to  defend  the  Sacred  Volume,  still  menaced  by 
the  Papists.  The  riots  and  devastation  at  Louisville  recdl  those 
of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Know-Nothings  of  1855  are  a  copy  of  the 
Native  Americans  of  1844.  Like  the  latter  they  are  impelled 
by  Free  Masonry,  and  L-ish  Orangeism  in  crossing  the  Atlantic 
has  lost  neitlier  its  nature  nor  its  principles.  There  is  then 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  crimes  already  committed 
against  the  Church,  as  well  as  those  about  to  come,  \Yill  have  no 


*  The  judgment  of  God  on  the  authors  of  sacrilege  are  as  evident  in 
America  as  elsewhere.  Among  the  natives  of  1344,  concerned  in  the  dc- 
Btruction  of  the  churches,  was  Col.  Peter  Albright.  He  led  the  mob  at  St. 
Michael's,  and  exulted  that  the  record  of  his  baptism  was  destroyed  at  St. 
Augustine's,  for  he  was  the  son  of  Catholic  parents.  He  died  soon  after, 
very  wretchedly,  in  an  oyster  cellar ;  his  brother  .Jacob  perished  at  u  fire  ; 
hia  widow  and  daughter  were  drowned  in  tlio  Delaware,  in  1856. 


TiiiilMiWI 


258 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


other  result,  than  to  advance  tlie  reaction  in  favor  of  the  Catho- 
lics in  the  really  sound  portion  of  the  American  mind.  Besides, 
God  protects  the  Church,  and  has  in  store  for  it  after  these  days 
of  trial,  days  of  liberty  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


f<i  i 


rilfVi 


UIOCESE    OF    PHILADELPHIA (1844-1855). 

Division  of  tlie  diocese— Stafe  of  Delaware— Tlie  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart— The  Sis 
ters  of  the  Visitation —The  bisters  of  Notre  Dame— Father  Virgil  Barber  and  hi» 
family — Works  of  Bishop  F.  P.  Kenriclv — His  translation  to  the  metropolitan  Sec  of 
Baltimore — Rt.  Kev.  John  N.  Neumann,  foui  th  bishop  of  Pliiladelphia. 

After  the  conflagration  of  St.  Augustine's  Church,  the  congre- 
gation of  that  church  were  hospitably  received  by  old  St.  Joseph's, 
where  they  had  Mass  and  Vespers  at  special  hours,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  usual  services  of  that  parish.  In  1845  the 
Ilerniits  of  St.  Aucrustine  built  a  schoolhouse  on  the  site  of  their 
old  rectory,  and  used  it  as  a  temporary  chapel  till  the  county 
allowed  them  damages  for  their  loss,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  re- 
build their  church.  The  amount  claimed  was  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  for  three  years  the  county  officois  kept  the 
aflfair  before  the  courts  and  exhausted  every  subterfuge  to  escape 
payment.  Among  the  objections  put  forward  by  the  counsel  was 
one  which  should  be  given  as  a  proof  of  the  intense  stupidity, 
ignoi'ance,  or  bad  faith  of  the  Pennsylvania  bar.  In  order  to  en- 
vel  M  ihe  missionaries  in  the  prejudice  against  the  negroes,  and 
so  c.;'ray  the  juiy  against  them,  it  was  stated  that  the  Augustini- 
ans  had  been  founded  by  an  African  negro !  In  spite  of  all, 
liowever,  forty-five  thousand  dollars  were  allovi^ed,  and  in  1847  the 
new  church  of  St.  Augustine  was  opened  for  service. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


259 


the  Catho- 
BesJdes, 
these  days 


art— The  Sfs 
rber  and  hi? 
olitan  Sec  of 


le  coDgre- 
.  Josepli's, 
as  not  to 
1845  the 
J  of  their 
8  county 
m  to  re- 
'ed  thou- 
bpt  the 
)  escape 
usel  was 
:upidity, 
!!•  to  en- 
)es,  and 
Qfustini- 
of  all, 
347  the 


•KJI 


»»» 


At  St.  Michael's  a  shed  was  raised  among  the  ruins,  and  servca 
as  a  teniporar}  chapel  for  some  years,  till  they  obtiiined  of  the 
county  the  indemnity  which  the  law  imposed,  and  applied  it  to 
build  the  church.  Thus,  loth  indeed  and  reluctantly,  Pennsyl- 
vania repr.ired,  at  least  in  pai't,  the  material  losses  caused  by  the 
riots  of  1844,  while  Massachusetts,  with  all  her  boasted  superi- 
ority, lias  constantly  refused  from  1834  to  the  present  moment  to 
iudcnmify  the  Bishop  of  Boston  for  the  frightful  destruction  of 
the  Ursuline  Convent  of  Mount  Benedict. 

As  the  number  of  the  faithful  increased  in  Philadelphia,  the 
extent  of  the  State  rendered  the  episcopal  charge  too  heavy  for 
one  prelate. 

The  third  and  fifth  Councils  of  Baltimore  had  asked  the  divi- 
sion of  the  diocese,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  eti'ected  it  in  1843 
by  electing  the  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor  to  the  See  of  Pitts- 
burg. This  new  diocese  comprised  under  its  jurisdiction  the 
western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  and  we  shall  speak  of  it  in  the  en- 
suing chapter.  The  diocese  of  Philadelphia  retained  the  eastern 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  Western  New 
Jersey.  The  last  portion  was  detached  from  it  in  1853,  and  the 
whole  State  of  New  Jersey  was  formed  into  the  diocese  of  New- 
ark ;  so  that  we  shall  treat  at  a  proper  time  and  place  of  the  Cath- 
olics of  that  State. 

Delaware,  one  of  the  smallest  States  in  the  Union,  containing 
only  ninety  thousand  inhabitants,  owes  its  name  to  Lord  De  la 
Wave,  one  of  the  early  governors  of  Virginia,  in  hone  <'f  whom 
the  river  Delaware  receivod  that  appellation,  which  it  eventually 
gave  to  the  Indians  on  its  banks  and  to  the  little  State  at  its 
mouth.  The  colonization  of  this  v  rt  of  the  American  coast  was 
fii'st  projected  by  Gustavus  Adolj)hus,  King  c*^  Sweden,  after 
whose  death  Oxenstiern  put  his  plan  in  execution  by  sending 
out  in  1638  two  ships  with  settlers.  A  Swedish  minister  came 
•is  chaplain,  and  Lutheranism  was  the  first  creed  of  New  Sweden, 


260 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


■which  gradually  grew  up  aroxmJ  Fort  Christina,  so  called  from 
that  queen  who  at  a  later  date  renounced  throne  and  home  to  re- 
turn to  the  creed  of  her  forefathers,  The  Dutch  of  New  Amsii'i- 
dam  (New  York)  set  up  claims  i>>  the  part  occupied  by  tlio 
Swedes,  and  conquered  it  in  1 055.  It  then  contained  seven  hu's  • 
drod  European  inhabitants.  Nine  years  after,  ihe  Dutch  in  their 
turn  yieliled  to  tiie  English,  and  De!a^vare  was  sr.ccessively  an- 
nexed to  New  York  and  Pennsylvania;  but  at  last,  ni  1703,  "the 
three  coiciiies  on  the  Delaware,"  Newcastle,  Kent,  and  Sussc.*', 
resoh^J  to  i'ovni  a  separate  colon}^,  and  nou  to  send  delegate^  to 
the  I*ermsjivania  Aisaembly.  Delaware  tlms  saw  a  po]  ulalion 
gather  oi  Swi'.Iibh  I^i^herans,  i>utcli  Calviiiists,  English  Ejnsco- 
palians,  and  Quakers.  Xioro  iihia  a  (.outury  after  Sweden  had 
lost  all  autiiotity  over  the  •■'  Ion}-,  the  National  Church  of  Stock- 
holm (Continue! L  to  maintain  jnissionarics  among  their  fellow- 
believers  Ml  Amciica,  and  the  Lutheran  Church  there  even  now 
keeps  up  a  certain  intercourse  with  the  established  Church  in 
Sweden,  like  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  with  the  Classis 
ii!  Holland,  and  the.  Episcopal  with  the  A.nglican  Church. 

'j'o  the  honor  of  tiie  Swedisii  Lutherans,  it  must  be  stated  that 
they  sliowed  more  zeal  for  the  conveision  of  the  Indians  than 
either  tlj.'  Calvinists  of  Holland,  or  the  Puiitans,  Quakers,  or 
Episcopalians  of  England.  The  catechism  of  Luther  was  trans- 
lated into  Delaware  by  the  missionary  Campanius,  and  an  edition 
priniol  at  Stockholm  in  1G90  by  the  Swedish  king  for  gratuitous 
distribution  among  the  Indians. 

Amid  all  the  hostile  sects  on  the  soil  of  Delaware,  the  Catholic 
element  did  not  appear  till  late,  and  it  still  constitutes  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  population.  Some  old  Catholic  families  of 
honor  in  our  national  annals  are  claimed  by  Delaware,  and 
among  them  we  need  only  mention  the  gallant  Shubricks.  At 
the  French  Revokition,  too,  some  French  Catholics  settled  in  a". 
Dear  Wilmington,  where  Hugv    -ots  had  removed  befo<     tbt 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


3G1 


called  from 
lonie  to  re- 
w  AmsUT' 
ed  by  tho 
seven  hu!  • 
cli  in  ('heir 
ssiveiy  an- 
703,  "the 
ik!  Sussc.., 
iIo^?:are<i  to 
poj  ulr'tu'on 
ill  E])isco- 
'eden  luid 
of  S/.ock- 
lir  fellow- 
even  iKnv 
'hurcli  in 
lie  Classis 
h. 

tated  that 
ans  than 
akers,  or 
i^as  trans- 
n  edition 
t'atuitous 

Catholic 
i  only  a 
lilies  of 
i"e,  and 
«.  /,(, 
in  a: 
the 


■0 


Tlic  nnmber  of  Catholics,  however,  remained  small.  Yet  tlio 
Sisters  of  Charity  from  Emmetsburg  founded  one  of  their  first 
Louses  at  Wilmington,  and  opened  an  academy  about  1830,  and 
sojnc  yeai-s  after,  an  orphan  asylum.  The  happy  results  of  this 
fcichool  in  the  education  of  young  girls  soon  induced  the  Catholics 
of  Delaware  to  seek  a  college  for  their  boys,  and  the  zealous  pas- 
tor of  Wilmington,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Reilly,  at  great  sacrifice 
opened  in  1839  a  school  which  has  become  a  flourishing  college. 
In  184V  the  State  Legislature  granted  this  institution  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  a  university  ;  a  corps  of  seven  professors  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  the  young  men,  and  the  most 
eminent  Protestant  citizens  are  patrons  of  the  work. 

Under  the  able  and  vigilant  administration  of  Bishop  Kenrick, 
the  religious  establishments  extended  rapidly  in  other  parts  of  the 
diocese.  In  1838  the  Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo  at 
Philadelphia  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  from  1841  to  1853  it  was  directed  by  Lazarists,  who 
w^ere  succeeded  by  secular  priests,  on  the  transfer  of  Bishop  Ken- 
rick to  the  metropolitan  See  of  Baltimore.  In  1842  the  Hermits 
of  St.  Augustine  opened  a  college  at  Villanova,*  but  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  church  and  library  at  Philadelphia  exhausted  their 
resources  and  deranged  all  their  jilans ;  still,  they  successfully  re- 
sumed the  college  exercises  in  1846,  and  the  Augustinians  now 
also  possess  at  Villanova  a  beautiful  monastery  and  novitiate. 

In  1851  tlie  Jesuits  founded  St.  Joseph's  College  in  Philadel- 
phia, which  was  removed  to  a  more  spacious  building  four  years 
later;  and  in  1852  the  Rev.  J.  Vincent  O'Reilly  opened  in  Sus- 
quehanna county  another  college  under  the  name  of  St.  Joseph. 

When  Bishop  Kenrick  was  appointed  Coadjutor  of  Philadel- 


*  7  iiiova  is  tliirteen  >  ',ilcs  from  1  liiladelpliia,  on  the  great  Pcnntsylvania 
El'"..-  ad.  In  1841,  Dr.  iVk.iarty,  Superior  of  the  Augustinians,  purchased 
tWij  hundred  acres  there,  which  are  lultivatod  by  the  lay  brothers  of  the 
Order,  and  furnish  important  rcsource.s  for  tlie  college  and  community. 


!m 


I  i 


2C2 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCII 


phia,  the  dioceso  posst^ssed  only  a  f'c.v  Sisters  of  Charity  from 
Emmetsbu'.g,  who  had  iiliarge  of  an  orphan  asyhun.  Now  six 
rc'lijjious  communities  of  women  devote  themselvos  to  all  the 
works  of  mercy,  and  eflect  incalculable  good.  In  1842  the  La- 
dies of  the  Sacred  Heart  ojiened  a  boarding-school  for  gii'ls  at 
McSherrystown,  near  the  Jesuit  mission  of  Conewago.  In  1847 
this  community  opened  a  school  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1849 
purchased  the  beautiful  spot  called  £den  Hall,  which  ofters  far 
greater  advantages  than  McSherrystown.  The  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  accordingly  left  the  latter  house,  which  became  the 
novitiate  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  The  institute  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  founded  in  Franco  in  1800  by  Father  Joseph  Varin,  of  the 
Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  approved  in  182G  by  Pope  Ltso 
XII.,  has  had  a  Saperior-general  since  its  origin,  Madame  Magda- 
lene Josephine  Barat.  The  motlier  house  is  at  Paris,  and  it  gov- 
erns the  whole  Order.  In  1817  the  first  establishment  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  in  America  was  founded  in  Missouri,  and  from  that 
time  these  pious  and  distinguished  ladies  have  extended  to  the 
dioceses  of  New  Oi'leans,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Detroit,  Albany, 
Buffalo,  and  the  Vicariate-apostolic  of  Indian  Territory.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Ileai't  devote  themselves  to 
the  education  of  young  ladies  in  twelve  academics,  and  maintain 
besides,  in  connection  with  many  of  their  establishments,  free 
schools  for  poor  girls. 

In  the  year  1848  the  Visitation  Sisters,  from  Georgetown,  in 
their  turn  opened  an  academy  at  Philadelphia,  and  about  the 
same  time  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
same  city  to  take  charge  of  St.  John's  Orphan  Asylum.  The 
community  of  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  into  existence  at  I'liy  in 
Velay,  France,  where  it  was  erected  by  the  P)i>lio})  of  Puy, 
Henry  de  Maupas,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Jesuit  Father  Medaille. 
In  the  course  of  his  missions  this  Father  assembled  some  holy 
virgins  who  longed  to  devote  themselves  to  God,  and  in  1650  the 


ll 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


2G3 


d 


Now  six 
.to  all  the 
J  2  the  L.'i- 
w  girls  at 
In  1847 
in  1849 
o/ll-rs  fur 
OS   of  the 
'ooamo  tliQ 
lie  Sacred 
ii'in,  of  the 
Pope  LcM) 
le  Magda- 
nd  it  gov- 
nt  of  iho 
ft'O'ii  that 
^d  to  the 
t,  Albany, 
^-     Three 
nselves  (o 
maintain 
ents,  free 

-town,  in 
I'out  the 
is  to  the 
n.  The 
'  i-'uy  in 

of   Puy, 

fedaille. 
Ki  holy 
O&O  the 


care  of  the  orphan  asylum  at  Piiy  was  confided  to  them.  Smce 
then  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  have  extended  to  almost  every  dio- 
cese in  France,  and  have  establishments  also  in  Savoy  and  Cor- 
sica. In  1836  six  Sisters  of  this  congregation  proceeded  from 
the  diocese  of  Lyons  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  imder  the  protection 
of  Bishop  Rosati.  In  1838  two  others,  who  had  learned  in 
Fnmce  the  manner  of  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  came  o^er 
and  joined  them.  They  soon  spread  greatly  in  the  United  States, 
and  now  number  over  a  hundred  Sisters ;  they  have  houses  of 
their  Order  in  the  dioceses  of  St.  Louis,  Pliiladelphia,  Buffalo, 
Wheeling,  Quincy,  and  St.  I'aul ;  theii"  principal  house  is  at  Ca- 
rondelet,  six  miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  1851  they  sent  a 
colony  from  Philadelphia  to  Toronto,  in  Canada  West.  This 
congregation  undertakes  all  works  of  mercy,  such  as  the  care  of 
hospitals,  prisons,  houses  of  refuge,  oi-phan  asylums,  also  directing 
schools  and  visiting  the  sick  in  their  dwellings.  At  Philadelphia 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  conduct.  St.  Anne's  Widows'  Asylum, 
and  teach  twelve  hundred  children  in  their  schools.  Their  novi- 
tiate is  at  McSherrystown,  in  the  old  convent  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  in  1855  it  contained  eleven  no\.v;es  and  six  postulants. 
In  1849  Bishop  Kenrick  also  enriched  his  diocese  with  a  com- 
munity of  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  ii.  order  to  create  an 
asylum  for  sinful  women,  who  wish  to  leave  a  life  of  disorder 
and  embrace  virtue.  This  community^  under  the  name  of  Our 
Lady  of  Charity,  was  first  established  in  1641  ai  Caen,  in  Nor- 
mandy, by  the  celebrated  Father  Eudes,  founder  of  the  society  of 
priests  called  Eudists.  Father  Eudes,  whose  sermons  reached 
every  conscience,  effected  a  revolution  in  the  life  of  many  who 
lived  in  vice.  To  maintain  these  in  the  path  of  duty,  he  assca: 
bled  them  together  and  put  them  under  the  direction  of  some 
holy  Sisters.  The  community  was  approved  in  1666,  by  Pope 
Alexander  VII.,  and  in  17-11  by  Benedict  XIV.  It  acquired 
great  extent  ■•«.  France ;  in  18"'^  the  house  at  Angers  separated 


1; 


'  f*  .*■ 


I  9 


K.;    i  ■.   *^ 


2C1 


TIIK   CATHOLIC  CllL^KCII 


from  the  oilier  houses,  rikI  was  crect(!j  by  Pope  Gregory  XV^I. 
the  geiicnihite  of  a  new  bniiu  li,  which  added  to  the  name  of  Ow 
Lady  of  Cliarity  that  of  Gcv  '  :    (.'ili.vrd,  and  which  lias  spread 
remarkably.     The  first  <:  fabiisiii.icia  of  this  venerable  Order  in 
the  United  States  was  made  at  Louisville  in  1842.     They  arrived 
in  I'hiladelphia  in  18-19,  and  took  care  of  the  Asylum  fur  Widows 
till  1851,  when  they  were  enabled  to  open  an  asylum  for  penitent 
women.     They  ha\e  now  thirty-six  penitents,     ,'       oive  Protest- 
ants as  well  as  Catholics.     A  house  of  the  Good  Shepherd  was 
founded  in  St.  Louis  in  1849,  and  the  Archbishop  of  New  York 
is  now  coUecu  1":  the  funds  necessary  to  erect  an  asylum,  the  need 
of  which  is  feb  m  the  great  city  where  he  has  his  metropolitan  See. 
While  young  girls  of  American,  Irish,  and  French  origin  fmd 
in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia  abundant  resources  for  education 
at  the  Sacred  Heart  Visitation,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  tho  German  portion  have  had,  since  1840,  the 
School  Sisters  of  Nt  tre  Dame,  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  in  Phila- 
delphia.    The  Kedemptorists  founded  this  church  in  1843,  and 
immediately  opened  schools  for  boys.     Then,  as  soon  as  their  re- 
sources permitted,  they  invited  the  Bavarian  School  Sisters  of 
Notre  Dame,  who  direct  the  German  schools  in  a  great  many 
parishes  served  by  the  Redemptorists.     In  spite  of  their  German 
origin,  these  good  Sisters  preserve  the  French  name  of  Notre 
Dame,  a  proof  that  their  primitive  foundation  was  not  made  in 
Germany,     They  were,  in  fact,  founded  in  Lorraine  in  1597, 
under  the  name  of  Sisters  of  the  Congrogatiou  of  Notre  Dame, 
by  the  Blessed  Peter  Fourier  and  the  ven^jrable  Motlier  Alice 
Leclerc*     Their  community  was  authorized  by  the  Bishop  of 


*  Mother  Alice  Leclerc,  born  in  1576,  died  •  •  1622  ;  tlie  process  of  her 
canonization  was  begun,  but  was  finally  susSiH  'd  ii  consequence  of  the 
revolutions.  Tl>.c  TJlessed  Peter  Fourier  was  ljiu  at  .Nirccourt  in  Lorraine, 
the  15th  of  Novemoer,  1565  ;  lie  was  the  refoiiner  of  the  Canons  Regular  of 
Lorrai--  and  founder  of  the  congregation  of  !Notre  Dame.  lie  died  at  Gray 
on  the  Vvh  of  November,  1640,  and  was  beatified  by  bulls  of  January  29, 1850. 


I 


IN   THE    UNITKI)   B'IATKS. 


265 


ivgory  XVr. 
nuiiic)  of  (")iir 
liHs  sjn'cail 
ble  Order  in 
riu'y  .  nivi'cl 
I  iw  Widows 
or  penitent 
*^ive  Protest- 
lu'plierd  was 
f  New  York 
an,  the  need 
opolitau  See. 
Ii  origin  find 
)V  education 

■ph,  and  tlio 
ce  1840,  the 
;h,  in  Phila- 
Q  1843,  and 
I  as  their  re- 
)!  Sisters  of 
great  many 
lieir  German 
16  of  Notre 
lot  made  in 
18  in  1597, 
Fotre  Dame, 
[otlier  Alioe 
e  Bishop  of 

roccss  of  her 
juence  of  the 
•t  ill  Lorruine, 
ina  Regular  of 
3  died  at  Gray 
luary  29, 1850. 


Toul  in  1598,  and  their  first  rule  made  by  the  Blessed  Fetor, 
jind  approved  in  ICu.'}  by  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  Legato  of  the 
Holy  See.  Bopo  I'aul  V.  erected  the  houses  of  the  Order  into 
monasteries  by  his  bulls  of  February  1,  1015,  and  October  6, 
1010;  and  in  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were 
no  less  than  eighty  monasteries  of  this  institute  in  Franco,  Lor- 
raine, Germany,  and  Savoy.  On  the  dispersion  of  the  religious 
communities  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  those  in  Franco  were  broken 
up,  and  about  the  same  time,  under  the  impulse  of  the  doctrines 
of  Joseph  T.  ot  Austria,  the  houses  in  the  electorate  of  Bavaria 
were  suppressed  and  the  Sisters  dispereed.  The  loss  was  deeply 
felt,  and  the  pious  Bishop  Wittman  of  Ratisbon,  in  1832,  re- 
solved to  revive  their  Order  and  restore  their  house  at  Stadt-am- 
hof.  The  rule  was  modified  to  suit  the  changed  circumstances 
of  the  times ;  and  as  they  were  intended  only  for  education,  they 
took  the  name  of  School  Sisters  of  Notro  Dame.  Mother  Mary 
Theresa,  the  firet  Superior-general,  still  survives,  and  had  the  con- 
o>  lation  of  seeing  her  Order  formaUy  approved  by  his  Holiness 
Z  -ne  Pius  IX.,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1854. 

Prior  to  this,  in  1847,  she  sent  from  the  mother  house,  at  Mu- 
nich, three  Sisters  to  found  a  house  at  Baltimore.  The  mother 
house  of  the  Order  in  the  United  States  is  at  Milwaukie,  and  the 
residence  of  Sister  Mary  Caroline,  the  Vice  Superior-general. 
They  had  in  1855  twenty-ono  novices  and  as  many  postulants, 
and  direct  German  schools  in  the  dioceses  of  Milwaukie,  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia,  New  York,  Pittsburg,  Buffalo,  and  Detroit. 

While  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Damo  are 
increasing  in  Bavaria,  and  sending  colonies  to  the  United  States, 
another  part  of  America  beholds  in  a  state  of  prosperity  a  con- 
gregation which  bears  the  same  name  of  Notre  Dame,  and  which 
seems  to  us  to  have  some  ties  with  the  pious  institute  of  Mil- 
waukie. In  1826,  a  monastery  of  the  congregation  was  estab- 
lished at  Troyes,  in  Champagne,  under  the  episcopate  of  Ren6 

12 


^    ■?f.: 


I  ; 

i  I 


266 


THK  CATHOLIC  CIIURCU 


de  Brcslay.  Tn  lO.jn,  Monsieur  dc  MulsHonncuvo,  first  Governor 
of  Montreal,  in  Canada,  wont  to  Troyes,  where  the  Sisters  of 
Notre  Dame  bogged  liiin  to  take  some  of  their  religious  to  di- 
rect the  schools  in  this  now  colony.  Mr.  de  Maissonneuvo  could 
not  bear  the  expense  of  this  now  foundation,  and  he  moreover 
believed  that,  in  the  precarious  state  of  the  colony,  an  order  of 
cloistered  religions  would  not  render  all  the  service  to  be  desired. 
He  accordingly  took  with  him  only  Margaret  Bourgeoys,  prefect 
of  the  external  congregation  founded  by  the  Sisters  at  Troyes ; 
and  the  lioly  virgin  became  at  Montreal  the  foundress  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  which  now  com- 
prises in  Canada  twenty-five  missions,  two  hundred  Sisters,  and 
instructs  five  thousand  six  liundred  girls.*  There  is  still  another 
community  in  the  United  States,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Sisters  of  Notre  Dame ;  but  its  origin  is  different.  It  was  found- 
ed in  1804,  by  Father  Joseph  Varin  and  Mother  Julia  Billiard. 
The  mother  house  is  at  Namur,  in  Belgium  ;  and  it  has  houses  in 
the  United  States,  in  the  dioceses  of  Cincinnati,  Boston,  and  San 
Francisco. 

We  see  with  what  admirable  zeal  Bishop  Kenrick  labored  to 
afford  his  diocese  the  benefits  of  numerous  religious  communi- 
ties ;  and  the  venerable  prelate  was  not  less  successful  in  in- 
creasing the  number  of  his  parochial  clergy.  When  he  became 
Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia  in  1 830,  the  diocese  contained  only  thirty 
priests.  When  the  confidence  of  the  Holy  See  called  him,  in 
1851,  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Baltimore,  he  left  to  his  successor 
ninety-four  churches  and  eight  chapels,  with  one  hundred  and 
one  priests  in  the  diocese,  besides  forty-six  seminarians,  although 
h.ilf  of  Pennsylvania  had  been  erected  into  the  new  diocese  of 
Pittsburg.     The  clergy  formed  by  the  example  of  Bishop  Ken- 

*  Helyot,  Histoire  des  Ordrea  Religieux  (edition  Migne),  i.  1088.  Faillon, 
Vie  de  la  Soeur  Bourgeoys,  Villemarie,  1853.  Laroche  Heron,  Los  Servautea 
de  Dieu,  Canada.    Montreal,  1855,  p.  43. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


267 


first  Governor 
tlio  Sisters  of 
•eligious  to  di- 
onneuve  could 
.  lio  inoreovor 
ly,  an  order  of 

to  be  desired. 

•geoys,  prefect 
ers  at  Troyes ; 
undress  of  the 
ich  now  corn- 
ed Sisters,  and 
is  still  another 
9  name  of  the 

It  was  found- 
Julia  Billiard, 
t  has  houses  in 
Boston,  and  San 

•ick  labored  to 
ious  communi- 
iccessful  in  in- 
hen  he  became 
,ined  only  thirty 
called  him,  in 
;o  his  successor 
3  hundred  and 
irians,  although 
new  diocese  of 
Df  Bishop  Ken- 

i.  1088.    Fuillon, 
ou,  Los  Servautea 


rick  has  counto<l  in  its  ruiikh  the  most  cmintfut  members  of  tho 
Crunch  in  the  United  States:  tho  Uov.  John  Hughes,  I'astor  of 
St.  John's,  J'hiliulcliihia,  now  Archbishop  of  Now  York;  tho 
Rev.  I'eter  li.  Keiirick,  Vicar  of  tho  Cathedral  in  1830,  and 
now  Arohbi.shop  of  St.  Louis ;  tho  Rev.  Kdward  Barron,  Vicar- 
general  of  tho  dioceso  in  1839,  and  in  1843  Vicar-apostolic  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Guinea  ;  tho  Rov.  F.  X.  Gartlaiid,  Vicar  of  St. 
John's  in  1834,  and  in  1850  Bishop  of  Savannah  ;  tho  Rev. 
Michael  O'Connor,  Pastor  of  Morristown  in  1840,  atid  in  1843 
Bishop  of  Pittsburg ;  tho  Rev.  Thonuis  Iloydon,  Pastor  of  St. 
I'aul's,  I'ittsburg,  in  1838,  who  has  repeatedly  refused  to  c^uit  his 
parish  of  Bedford  to  assume  tho  mitre. 

.  But  wo  owe  a  special  mention  to  a  holy  religious,  who  exer- 
cised the  ministry  in  Pennsylvania  for  several  years — in  1836 
at  Conewago,  and  in  1834  at  Philadelphia.  In  1807,  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Barber,  Congregationalist  minister  in  Now  England,  had 
baptized  in  his  sect  Miss  Allen,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Amer- 
ican general,  Ethan  Allen,  so  renowned  in  Vermont,  his  native 
State.  Tho  young  lady  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age  :  she 
soon  after  proceeded  to  Montreal,  where,  entering  the  academy 
of  tho  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame,  she  became  a 
Catholic,  and  devoting  herself  to  God,  joined  the  community  of 
Hospital  Nuns,  at  the  Hotel  Dieu,  whore  she  died  piously  in 
1819,  having  induced  tho  Protestant  physician  who  attended  her 
to  embrace  Catholicity  by  the  mere  spectacle  of  her  last  mo- 
ments. The  conversion  of  Sister  Allen  produced  other  fruits  of 
grace  on  her  co-religionists,  and  her  former  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Barber,  after  becoming  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
sect,  halted  not  in  the  way  of  truth,  but  abjured  the  errors  of  tho 
pretended  Reformation,  in  1816.  The  son  of  this  clergyman, 
the  Rev.  Virgil  Barber,  born  on  the  9th  of  May,  1782,  was  also 
a  minister.  He,  too,  had  been  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
joining  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  entered  it  with  his  father. 


^.' 


iiirf?' 


268 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUllCH 


I J 


■J> 


r-  6 


Mrs.  Virgil  Barber  followed  their  example,  and  she  and  her  hus- 
band resolvod  to  abandon  all  and  separate  from  each  other,  for 
God's  service.  Mr.  Virgil  Barber,  in  consequence,  went  to  Rome 
in  1817,  and  obtained  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  the  authority 
necessary  for  the  step.  He  entered  the  ecclesiastical  state,  was 
ordained  in  that  city,  and  after  spending  two  years  th,ire,  returned 
from  Europe,  bringing  his  wife  authorization  to  embrace  the  re- 
ligious state.  She  had  entered  the  Visitation  Nuns  at  George- 
town, and  for  two  years  followed  the  novitiate.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barber  had  five  children,  four  daughters  and  one  son.  The  last 
was  placed  at  the  Jesuit  College  at  Georgetown,  while  the  daugh- 
ters were  at  the  Academy  of  the  Visitation,  yet  without  knowing 
that  their  mother  was  a  novice  in  the  house.  The  time  of  her 
probation  having  expired,  the  five  children  were  brought  to  the 
chapel  to  witness  their  mother's  profession,  and  at  the  same  time, 
on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  their  father  devoting  himself  to  God  as 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus !  At  this  touching  and  unex- 
pected sight,  the  poor  children  burst  into  sobs,  believing  them- 
selves forsaken  on  earth.  But  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven 
watched  over  them  ;  he  inspired  the  four  daughters  with  the  de- 
sire of  embracing  the  religious  state,  and  three  of  them  entered 
the  Ursulines :  one  at  Quebec,  one  at  Boston,  and  one  at  Three 
Rivers.  The  fourth  made  her  profession  among  the  Visitandines 
of  Georgetown  ;  their  brother  Samuel  was  received  into  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus,  and  is  now  at  Frederick.* 

Father  Virgil  Barber,  after  filling  with  general  edification  sev- 
eral posts  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  became  Professor  of 
Hebrew  in  Georgetown  College,  and  died  there  March  27, 1847, 


■iif? 


*  Faillon,  Vie  de  M'lle  Mance,  et  Histoire  de  I'llotel  Dieu  de  Villeraarie,  i. 
294  ;  Catholic  Almanac  for  1848,  p.  263.  Sister  Mary  Barber  (of  St.  Benedict) 
witnessed  the  destruction  of  the  U»sulino  Convent,  near  Boston,  and  died  at 
Quebec,  May  9,  1848.  Sister  Catharine  Barber  (of  St.  Thomas)  followed 
Bishop  Odin  to  Texas,  in  1849. 


m 


■jfeesTl 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


269 


she  aud  her  hua- 
m  each  other,  for 
ce,  went  to  Rome 
iff  the  authority 
astical  state,  was 
rs  thjre,  returned 
embrace  the  re- 
N^uns  at  George- 
3.    Mr.  and  Mrs. 
le  son.     The  last 
while  the  daugh- 
without  knowing 
The  time  of  her 
i  brought  to  the 
it  the  same  time, 
imself  to  God  as 
iching  and  unex- 
believing  them- 
ho  is  in  heaven 
ters  with  the  de- 
of  them  entered 
id  one  at  Three 
the  Visitandines 
ed  into  the  So- 

edification  sev- 
ne  Professor  of 
larch  27,  1847, 


I  de  Villemarie.  i. 
-(of  St.  Benedict) 
>Hton,  and  died  at 
?homa3)  followed 


# 


at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  Sister  Barber  long  resided  at  Kaskas- 
kia,  Illinois,  where  she  founded  a  Monastery  of  the  Visitation. 
The  grace  of  conversion  extended  also  to  other  members  of  the 
family,  and  a  nephew  and  pupil  of  Father  Virgil  Barber,  Wil- 
liam Tyler,  born  in  Protestantism  at  Derby,  Vermont,  in  1804, 
became  in  1844  first  Catholic  Bishop  of  Hartford,  and  died  in 
his  diocese  in  1849. 

This  is  not  the  only  example  which  the  United  States  presents 
of  married  persons,  wl  ^,  on  embracing  Catholicity,  have  carried 
the  sacrifice  to  its  utmost  limits,  and  asked  as  a  signal  favor  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  religious  state.  Father  John  Austin 
Hall,  a  Dominican  and  Apostle  of  Ohio  from  1822  to  1828,  was 
an  English  otfieer  of  many  years'  standing,  who,  touched  by  the 
spectacle  offered  by  religion  in  Italy  and  France,  abjured  heresy, 
and  converted  his  family  and  his  sister.  The  latter  and  his  wife 
entered  a  community  of  English  Augustinian  Nuns  in  Belgium, 
while  Father  Hall  assumed  the  habit  of  St.  Dominic ;  and  this 
zealous  missionary,  dying  at  Canton,  Ohio,  in  1828,  left  to  the 
United  States  the  reputation  of  the  most  eminent  virtues.  But 
these  separations  from  religious  motives  have  at  times  been  the 
occasion  of  scandals  in  the  Church,  and  the  prosecutions  insti- 
tuted by  the  Rev.  Pierce  Connelly  have  been  too  widely  made 
known,  for  us  to  pass  over  them  here. 

The  Rev.  Pierce  Connelly  was  minister  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  in  1827,  and  \.as  distinguished 
by  his  Puseyite  tendencies,  which  drew  on  him  the  ^  ioient  at- 
tacks of  the  Protestant  press.  In  1836  he  set  out  for  Europe, 
accompanied  by  his  wife.  She  became  a  Catholic  at  New  r)i.- 
leans  some  days  before  setting  sail,  and  her  husband  followed 
her  example  at  Rome,  in  the  Church  of  Trinite  de  Monti,  March 
28th,  1836.  In  the  first  fervor  of  their  conversion,  they  asked 
to  devote  themselves  to  God  by  the  vows  of  religion ;  but  were 
dissuaded  from  accomplishing  the  sacrifice,  and  after  two  }eais 


270 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


im 


Fi:  ■ 


if       :l 


ti 


spent  in  Rome  and  France,  they  returned  to  America,  where 
they  lived  several  years  in  retirement.  In  the  month  of  July, 
1842,  Mr.  Connelly  gave  a  lecture  in  the  Cathedral  of  Balti- 
more, embracing  an  edifying  account  of  his  conversion.  Soon 
after,  they  both  returned  to  Rome,  and  so  earnestly  renewed 
their  petition,  that  they  were  at  last  allowed  to  separate.  Mrs. 
Connelly  entered  the  Institute  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  in  1844, 
Mr.  Connelly  received  the  tonsure  in  the  church  of  the  house 
whei'e  his  wife  was.  Two  years  after,  he  was  ordained,  but  in 
vain  solicited  entrance  into  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  also  declined  to  receive  the  profession  of  Mrs. 
Connelly.  She  accordingly  left  Rome  and  went  to  England, 
where  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  gave  her  a  house  to  found  an 
educational  establishment.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Connelly  at  the  same 
time  became  the  chaplain  of  the  earl,  and  the  tutor  of  his  adopt- 
ed son.  Ere  long,  however,  the  frequent  interchange  of  letters 
between  the  two  converts  excited  distrust,  and  Mrs.  Connelly,  by 
her  confessor's  advice,  refused  to  continue  it.  Of  this  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Connelly  complained  bitterly,  and  gradually  relapsing  into 
Protestantism,  applied  to  the  English  tribunals  to  recover  his 
wife.  The  proceedings  which  ensued  created  great  discussion 
in  England  in  1849  and  1850 ;  but  Mrs.  Connelly  always  refused 
to  violate  the  vows  of  religion  which  she  ad  pronounced,  not 
merely  with  the  consent,  but  at  the  entreaty  of  her  husband  ; 
and  she  continues  to  lead  an  exemplary  life  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
munity, first  at  Derby,  but  afterwards  transferred  to  Hastings. 
Baffled  ambition  seems  to  have  been  the  unfortunate  cause  of 
Mr.  Connelly's  fall.  Flattered  by  the  welcome  shown  him  at 
Rome,  he  thought  only  of  becoming  a  bishop,  and  even  a  cardi- 
nal ;  and  the  honorable  position  which  the  earl  gave  him  in  his 
family  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  Connelly's  vanity.* 

*  U.  S.  Cutholic    Magazine,  1842,  p.  409;    1S44,  i..  540;   1849,  p.  290; 
416,  p.  800. 


IN   THE   UFITED   STATES. 


271 


America,  where 
month  of  July, 
|hedral  of  Balti- 
version.     Soon 
rncstlj  renewed 
separate.     Mrs. 
rt,  and  in  1844, 
i^  of  the  house 
Trained,  but  in 
T]ie  Ladies  of 
)fession  of  Mis. 
It  to  England, 
e  to  found  an 
Jy  at  the  same 
31'  of  his  adopt- 
ange  of  letters 
■s.  Connelly,  by 
f  this  the  Rev. 
relapsing  into 
to  recover  his 
■eat  discussion 
ilways  refused 
onounced,  not 
tor  husband  ; 
cad  of  a  com- 
to  Hastings. 
Jate  cause  of 
lown  him  at 
2ven  a  cardi- 
e  him  in  his 

1849,  p.  290; 


I 

i 

■  A 


Tlie  vigilant  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  whose  numeroi  s  labors 
we  have  mentioned,  found,  moreover,  time  to  write  and  publish 
several  works  which  enjoy  a  merited  reputation  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken.  His  Dogmatic  and  Moral  Theology, 
in  seven  volumes,  is  a  complete  treatise  on  the  sacred  science, 
adapted  to  the  general  wants  of  the  country. 

"  The  appearance  of  so  large  a  work  written  in  good  Latin, 
and  intended  really  for  use,  was  a  source  of  wonder  to  the  Prot- 
estant public  and  clergy,  few  of  whom  could  even  read  it  with- 
out some  difficulty,  and  none,  perhaps,  with  ease,  Consideied  in 
a  literary  point  of  view,  it  marks  the  classic  character  of  our 
writers,  a  familiarity  with  Roman  literature,  which  is  unequalled 
in  the  country.  The  canons  and  decrees  of  the  Councils  held 
at  Baltimore,  which  England's  first  Orientalist,  Cardinal  Wise- 
man, ranks  with  those  of  Milan,  display  an  equally  correct  taste. 
Even  in  the  backwoods,  with  rough  work  and  rough  men,  Badin, 
the  fii-st  priest  ordained  in  our  land,  sings  in  Latin  verse  the 
praises  of  the  Trinity."* 

The  Church,  by  prese^'ving  Latin  as  the  Liturgical  language, 
saved  that  noble  language  from  oblivion,  and  through  it  saved 
the  Greek ;  and  Protestantism,  with  its  love  for  the  vernacular, 
devoted  the  highest  classes  of  society  to  ignorance  of  the  authors 
of  ancient  Rome.  A  few  years  since,  the  United  States  regard- 
ed as  a  wonder  a  Latin  life  of  Washington,  and  vavnted  it  be- 
yond all  conception  by  the  thousand-tongued  press.  There  is 
not  a  Catholic  country  curate  thai  could  not  have  done  as  much; 
and  yet  public  opinion  in  America  will  long  preserve  the  preju- 
dice that  ignorance  is  the  necessary  condition  of  Catholics.     In 


*  Oatliolic  Liter;itnre  in  tlio  United  States,  Metropolitnii  Magazine,  i.  74. 
Tlie  title  of  tlie  poem  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Badin  is,  "Sanctissimae  Trioi- 
tatis  Laiides,  ctinvocntio;  Carmen;  auotore  Stcpliano  Tiicodoro  Badin, 
Protosacerdote  Ballimorent^i,  nrobante,"  &c.  LudovicivilliE,  tvpus,  E.  J. 
Webii. 


;'..}'    -     1 


1^        I 


Mi 


'I 


272 


THE   CATllbLIO   CIIUKCII 


the  United  States,  an  author  reed  only  be  sispected  of  not  be- 
ing a  Protestant,  for  his  work  to  be  prejudged  and  precondcnin- 
ed;  and  it  is  the  same  in  England.  Yet  Americans  should 
remember  that  the  Catholic  clergy  of  Canada  taught  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Mohawks  to  read  and  write  within  twenty  miles  of 
Albany,  at  a  time  when  there  was  n()t  a  1  atin  school  in  the 
whole  colony  of  New  York.  Quebec  liad  a  college  before  New 
England  could  boast  of  one  ;  and  so  completely  was  the  idea  of 
Catholicity  then  blended  witli  that  of  classical  studies,  that  in  1G85, 
wtien  a  Latin  school  was  opened  at  New  York,  the  master  was 
ipso  facto  suspected  of  being  a  Jesuit.* 

Bishop  Konvick  also  wrote  the  "  Primacy  of  the  Apostolic 
See,"  one  of  the  most  remarkable  works  issued  in  America. 
The  book  first  appeared  in  several  letters,  or  parts,  as  a  refuta- 
tion of  the  attacks  on  the  Papacy  made  by  the  Right  Rev.  John 
H.  Hopkins,  I'rotesiant  Bishop  of  Vermont.  These  letters  were 
first  published  in  1842  and  1843  ;  but  the  eminent  author  sub- 
sequently recast  the  whole  work,  dropping  the  aggressive  and 
familiar  tone  of  controversy,  and  in  its  new  form  it  has  passed 
through  sevei'il  editions  in  America,  and  been  even  translated 
into  German.  Hie  learned  prelate  has  also  composed  creatises 
on  Baptism  and  Justification  ;  and  his  old  antagonist,  Dr.  Hop- 
kins, having  published  "  The  End  of  Controversy  Controverted," 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  in  1855,  replied  in  his  "Vindication  of  the 
Catliolic  Church,"  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Bishop  of 
Vermont. 

On  tlie  death  of  the  Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  fifth  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  the  distinguished  merit  of  Bisliop  Kenrick 
marked  him  as  the  fittest  to  occup}-  the  Metropolitan  See,  and 
he  was  in  fact  called  to  that  dignity  by  bull  of  August  3,  1851. 
His  successor  at  Philadelpliia  is  the  Right  Rev.  John  Nepomucen 

*  Cimada  and  her  Historians.     Metropolitan  Magazine,  i.  148. 


IN   THE    IGNITED   STATES. 


273 


[('•'t'^Hl  of  not  be- 
iiid  precoiulcnin- 
"ifrit'fuis  should 
ii'ight  the  chil- 
twcnty  niilos  of 
[n  school  in  the 
[ego  beforo  Now 
was  the  idea  of 
ies,  that  ill  1685, 
the  master  was 

t'  the  AjX)stoIi(; 
d   in  America. 
Its,  as  a  refuta- 
:iglit  Rev.  Jolin 
'^se  letters  were 
'»t  author  suh- 
aggressivc  and 
>  it  lias  passed 
n-en  translated 
posed  treatises 
"ii*^t.  Dr.  JIop- 
^ontroverted," 
lication  of  th<3 
the  Bishop  of 

'n,  fifth  Arch- 
^hop  Kenrick 
!tan  See,  and 
2:iJst  3,  1851. 
N'eponiuceu 

,  i.  148. 


Neniiiaiin,  of  the  Order  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer,  a  native  of 
the  Austrian  States.  At  the  time  of  his  election,  the  new  prelate 
was  rector  of  tlie  Redemptorist  house  at  Baltimore  :  he  was  con- 
secrated on  the  28th  of  March,  1852. 

Bishop  Neumann  has  zealously  continued  the  work  of  his 
predecessor;  and  although  his  diocese  lost  in  1853  half  of  New 
Jersey,  it  contained,  in  1856,  one  hundred  and  thirty -eight 
churches  and  chapels,  with  twenty-five  other  stations,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  priests,  and  a  Catholic  population  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  souls. 


OHArTER    XVI I  r. 

PENNSYl.VAMA (1750-1840.) 

Diocese  of  PitWburg— Tlie  Recollects  at  Fort  Duquosnc— The  llov.  Father  Brauers— 
Sketch  of  Prince  Deinetriiis  Galiitzin. 

We  have  stated  already  that  the  Holy  See  in  1843  yielded  to 
the  request  of  the  P'ifth  ^'ouncil  of  Baltimore,  by  forming  the 
western  part  of  Pennsylvania  into  a  distinct  diocese  from  that  of 
Philadelphia.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1843,  the  Very  Rev. 
Michael  O'Connor  was  called  to  the  new  See  of  Pittsburg,  and 
that  prelate  being  in  Rome  at  the  time  received  consecration  in 
the  Holy  City,  on  the  feast  of  tlie  Assumption.  Bishop  O'Con- 
nor, born  in  Ireland,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1810,  was 
ordained  at  Rome  in  the  year  1833,  devoted  himself  to  the 
American  missions  in  1838,  and  after  serving  several  parishes  in 
the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  was  successively  professor  in  the 
seminary,  pastor   at  Pittsburg,  and  Vicar-n(>neral  of   the  dio- 

19* 


274 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIUIICII 


Wi 


cesc,  displaying  in  all  these  functions  a  zeal  and  talents  which 
scon  marked  him  for  the  episcopacy. 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  of  Maryland  did  not  extend  the  circle 
of  their  apostleship  to  that  part  of  I'cunsylvania  now  comprised 
in  the  Sees  of  Pittsburg  and  Erie.     Colonization,  which  always 
began  by  the  belt  of  laud  lying  nearest  to  the  ocean,  had  not  yet 
penetrated  so  far,  and  the  Indians  inhabited  the  forests  undis- 
turbt  d  by  the  clearings  of  the  white  man.     So  little   was  it 
known  that  even  in  1750  it  was  not  settled  whether  the  Ohio 
bi'gan   in   Pennsylvania  or  in  Virginia.     Down  almost  to  the 
close  of  the  last  centnry  the  missionaries  penetrated  no  further 
vfst  than  Concwago;  but  the  new  emigrants  gradually  striking 
mlard   crossed  t  le  Alleghauies,  and  as  they  bore  civilization  to 
the  tt-iuile  valley  of  the  Ohio,  priests  came  that  Catholics  might 
not  be  destitute  of  all  religious  aid.     In  the  year  1798,  the  llev. 
Theodore  Brauers,  a  Dutch  Franciscan,  settled  at  Youngstown, 
w^here  he  bought  a  farm  and  built  a  chapel.     This  village  is  not 
far  from  Pittsburg,   and  it  was  then  the  only  spot  where  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  was  offered  for  the  salvation  of  men  in  the  vast 
territory  which  was  erected  in  1843  into  the  diocese  of  Pitts- 
burcr.     J^'rom  Lake  Erie  to  Conewago,  from  the  first  hills  of  the 
Alleghany  to  the  Ohio,  there  existed  no  church,  no  priest,  ex- 
cept the  humble  oratory  of  Father  Brauers ;  and  now  the  district 
forms  two  dioceses,  where    a  population  of  60,000   Catholics 
receive  the  care  of  eighty  priests,  in  ninety  churches.     The  Right 
Rev.  Doctor  O'Connor  assures  us  that  he  has  been  told  by  one  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants,  that  the  first  Catholics  in  that  part  of 
Pennsylvania  came  from  Goshenhoppen,  and  that  the  missionary 
Avho  served  that  parish  promised  that  they  should  be  visited  in 
the  new  settlement  by  another  priest.     It  was  in  fulfihnent  of 
this  promise  that  Father  Brauers  settled  at  Youngstown.      His 
death  gave  rise  to  a  fcurious  lawsuit,  in  which  the  Pennsylvania 
judges  showed    themselves   the   enlightened    protectors  of  the 


i 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


275 


Me 

5(1 

lot 


rights  of  the  Church  ;  and  such  a  spirit  of  justice  is  more  de- 
serving of  mention,  as  it  is  not  always  found  in  the  law  courts  of 
the  United  States.  By  his  will,  dated  at  Greensburg,  West- 
moreland county,  October  24,  1789,  Father  Theodore  Brauers 
had  left  his  property  to  his  successor,  on  condition  of  his  saying 
masses  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  A  wandering  priest  named 
Francis  Fromm,  took  possession  of  the  parsonage  and  church ;  and 
as  he  said  the  masses,  claimed  the  property  against  the  lawful 
priest  sent  by  the  Bishop.  Father  Brauers'  executors  had 
recourse  to  law,  and  the  judge  decided  that  a  Catholic  priest 
must  be  sent  by  his  Bishop,  although  he  expressed  his  astonish- 
ment that  a  man  of  Father  Brauers'  good  sense  should  order 
masses  to  be  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.*  The  first  talent  in 
Pennsylvania  was  employed  in  the  suit,  in  which  Judges  Bald- 
win and  Breclcenridge  both  spoke.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Fromm  proved 
that  he  was  a  regular  priest,  and  exhibited  the  certificate  of  the 
Bishop  of  Mentz,  as  well  as  the  consent  of  Father  Brauers'  con- 
gregation. These  considerations  might  have  influenced  the 
judges;  but  their  decision  upheld  the  Bishop,  and  this  case  has 
been  repeatedly  cited  as  an  authority  in  cases  of  a  similar  nature. 
Father  Brauers  was  not  the  first  priest,  nor  even  the  first 
Franciscan,  who  offered  the  Sacred  Victim  on  the  soil  of  Western 
Pennsylvania;  and  as  early  as  1755,  that  is,  just  a  century 
since,  we  find  French  Recollects  attached  as  chaplains  to  the 
French  forts  on  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  That  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  then  claimed  by  France,  and  in  fact  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Ohio  is  comprised  in  the  Letters  Patent  of  Louisiana,  in 
1712.  The  actual  taking  of  possession  is  not  more  undoubted 
than  the  discovery,  and  the  Canadians  had  launched  their  canoes 
on  the  Beautiful  River  years  before  the  Pennsylvania  settlers 
knew  of  its  existence.     To  unite  the  establishments  on  the  St. 

*  Executors  of  Brauers  against  Fromm.    Add.  Pennsylvania  Reports,  page 
862.    Father  Brauers'  name  is  in  the  Bible  of  1790. 


276 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Lawrence  with  those  on  the  Mississippi,  France  first  reared  a 
line  of  defences  along  the  lakes,  the  Wabash  and  Illinois;  hutthe 
Ohio  valley  had  been  left  exposed  to  the  enterprise  of  tlie  English 
colonies.  To  close  it,  the  governors  of  Canada,  in  1753  and 
1754,  built  between  Lake  Erie  on  the  Ohio,  Fort  Presqii'ile,  now 
the  city  of  Erie,  Fort  Leboeuf,  or  "  de  la  Riviere  anx  Bceufs,"  at 
Waterford,  the  post  of  Venango,  Foil  Machaidt,  and  where 
Pittsburg  now  stands,  the  celebrated  Fort  Duquesne.*  For 
four  years  the  French  valiantly  defeinled  these  posts  against  far 
superior  forces,  and  Washington  made  his  first  campaign  near 
Fort  Duquesne  against  his  future  allies.  At  the  close  of  1758, 
however,  the  garrison  fired  the  fort  and  retired,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  other  forts  were  similarly  abandoned.  Although 
these  forts  had  trifling  garrisons,  not  exceeding,  in  geiieral,  two 
hundred  men,  they  had  a  regular  chaplain,  a  proof  how  impor- 
tant a  place  religion  held  in  the  ancient  organization  of  France ; 
and  in  the  Registre  desPostesdu  Roi,  still  preserved  at  Montreal, 
is  the  record  of  the  burials  and  baptisms  at  Fort  Duquesne  from 
1754  to  1756. 


■■■5,4- 


th 


*  Earthworks  of  considerablo  extent  arc  still  pointed  out  near  Erie  as  tlie 
ruins  of  the  French  fort.  Fourteen  miles  southeast  of  Erie,  Waterford  vil- 
lage lies  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Lebneuf,  at  the  spot  where  Fort  Lebnenf 
Btood,  and  where  its  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen.  The  stream  running  from  the 
lake  is  still  called  Lebrenf  creek,  and  empties  into  French  creek,  which  pours 
its  waters  into  the  Alleghany.  Franklin  village,  the  county  town  of  Venango, 
is  at  the  confluence  of  French  creek  and  the  Alleghany.  Traces  of  the 
French  intrenchments  are  still  to  be  seen.  The  one  on  the  right  was  Fort 
Machault;  that  on  the  left  Venango.  About  1804  a  small  silver  chalice  was 
dug  up  at  Waterford,  near  the  ruins  of  the  French  fort,  and  was  purchased 
by  a  pious  Catholic  lady,  Mrs.  Vankirk,  to  save  it  from  profanation.  We 
owe  these  interesting  details  as  to  the  position  of  the  old  French  forts  to  the 
kindness  of  the  Eight  Rev.  J.  M.  Young,  Bis^liop  of  Erie,  to  whom  we  ex- 
press our  acknowledgment.  Sargent,  in  Ynn,  History  of  Braddock''s  Expedition, 
confirms  it,  and  states  that  the  ruins  of  Fort  Venango  cover  a  space  of  400 
feet  square.  The  ramparts  are  eight  feet  high.  All  these  posts  are  aoou- 
rately  laid  down  in  an  excellent  sketch  of  Canadian  history  by  Dussieux, 
published  at  Paris  in  1855. 


^Wi 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATi-.S. 


277 


la 

le 

H 


By  this  we  learn  tliiit  Futlier  Douis  Baron,  Uecollod,  v,as  at 
thai  tiine  chaplain  at  Fort  Duqnesne;  and  on  the  30th  of  July, 
1755,  an  entry  of  a  buri}!  )-\  signed  by  Father  Luke  ('ollet, 
chaplain  of  the  King  at  ForN  'rcsqu'ilo  and  Riviere  anx  Boeufs. 
This  Franciscan  was  merely  on  a  visit  at  Fort  Duqucsnc,  au  ho 
officiated  in  the  presence  of  the  regular  chaplain,  Father  Baron. 
The  latter  was  born  at  Pontarlier  in  Franchc  Comto,  and  arrived 
at  Quebec  in  1740.  lie  was  probably  a  deacon  at  the  time,  for 
the  register  of  ordinations  at  Quebec  mention,  him  as  ordained 
])riest  there  on  the  23d  of  September,  1741.  Father  Denis 
Baron  was  sent  uccessively  to  Tlu'  c  II  ers,  Montreal,  Niagara, 
Cape  Bretu,  ,  and  to  Acadia.  We  find  1  im  then  chaplain  at 
Fort  Duquesne,  Fort  St.  John,  Fort  St.  Frederic  or  Crown 
Point,  and  the  register  of  this  last  post  shows  that  he  died  and 
was  buried  there  on  the  6th  of  November,  1758.* 

Father  Luke  Collet,  a  Canadian  by  birth,  was  ordained  at 
Quebec  on  the  24th  of  February,  1753,  and  after  remaining  in 
his  convent  till  1754,  was  sent  to  the  for+  in  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio.f     These  Fathers  belonged  to  the  reform  of  the  Franciscan 


*  In  Ilia  biographical  notices  of  the  Canadian  cler^cry,  the  late  Mr.  Nois- 
eux,  Vicnr-gcneral  of  Quebec,  says  that  Father  I  •'•s  Baron  died  in  Acadia 
at  the  close  of  September,  1755,  while  the  regi.stn  ,)f  the  Fort  St.  Frederic 
states  officially  that  he  died  in  November,  1758.  Thi^  ingle  fact  shows  how 
carefnl  writer.'^  should  be  in  adopting  tiie  statcme  i^s  of  Mr.  Noisenx,  which 
ho  never  intended  should  be  made  public,  and  was  prevented  by  death  from 
correcting.  Unfortunately  they  were  atler  his  death  put  forward  as  extreme- 
ly accurate,  and  have  led  to  many  errors. 

+  Father  Collet  is  placed  by  Mr.  Noiseux  at  Chaleur  Bay  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  wu  ftnd  him  at  Fort  Dnquesne.  Th  ■■  biographer  adds  that  he 
was  taken  there  by  the  English  in  1760  and  carried  to  England.  On  being 
B6t  at  liberty  ii  November.  1760,  he  passed  over  t.»  Trance  and  never  return- 
ed to  Canadfi,  What  truth  there  may  be  in  this  we  know  not,  but  he  was 
certainly  in  Illinois.  We  arc  indebted  for  extracts  from  the  Kegisters  to  our 
venerable  frnnd,  the  Hon.  Jacques  Viger,  first  Mayor  of  Montreil,  Chevalier 
of  the  order  of  St.  Gregory,  whose  accuracy  is  pro  rbial  in  Canada,  and  1o 
'whose  aid  w  have  frequently  had  recourse,  and  as  we  gratefully  acknow- 
ledge, not  ill  vain. 


278 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHUliCH 


order  call (;d  Rocollects,  the  I."- r  of  wLoni  arrived  ii;  Canada  in 
1616,  with  Samuel  ('bjimiil  dii.     Sent  back  to  Franco  in  16  ;!) 


on  the  capture  of  vouchee  by  th«  Englisli,  they  returned  only  in 
1670,  and  from  that  time  never  left  Canada;  but  as  the  Enghsh 
government  seized  their  property  and  prevented  their  receiving 
novices,  tlieir  order  is  now  extinct  in  that  province,  the  last  sur- 
vivor, a  lay  brother,  having  died  a  few  years  ago.* 

It  may  easily  be  imagined  that  amid  the  privations  ol  a  fron- 
tier post,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  the  Recollects  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne  and  Fort  Machault,  could  make  no  eflbrt  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  Indians  by  whom  they  were  surrounded :  Dela- 
wares,  among  whom  the  Moravians  were  beginning  to  toil,  Sene- 
cas,  whom  the  Jesuits  had  so  long  taught ;  if  they  ministered  to 
any  it  was  to  the  wandering  Catholic  Huron  from  Sandusky,  or 
Miami  from  St.  Josei)h's,  the  men  whom  Beaujeu  led  to  victory 
over  the  disciplined  troops  of  Bi'addock.  Their  functions  were 
those  of  military  chaplains :  and  when  they  disappeared  with  the 
regiments  of  France,  thivi y  years  rolled  by  without  the  cross  re- 
appearing in  Western  I'l'iiasilvania;  but  in  1799  a  young  priest 
took  up  his  abode  aiLM?;;^  tb<  most  rugged  summits  of  the  Allc- 
ghanies :  there  he  built  vli arches,  founded  villages,  attracted  a 
Catholic  population,  by  advantageous  grants  of  laud,  and  the 
superior  spiritual  advantages  enjoyed  at  Loretto ;  and  after  an 
apostolic  career  of  foily-onc  years,  after  expending  $150,000  of 
his  fortune  in  this  admirable  work,  he  died,  leaving  ten  thousand 
Catholics  in  the  mountains,  where  he  had  found  only  twelve 
families.  This  holy  priest,  who  in  his  Inimility  called  himself 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  deserves  to  be  known  by  his  true  name,  and 


<). 
dc 

hi 


*  The  Friars  Minors  of  the  Strict  Observance,  called  in  France  Recollects, 
are  a  reform  of  the  Frunciscaus.  It  began  in  Spain  in  1584,  and  tlieir  first 
establishment  in  Paris  dates  from  IfiOo.  Henry  IV.,  Louis  XIlL,nnd  Louift 
XIV.  greatly  favored  these  zealous  religious.  Ikhjot^  Histoire  des  Ordres 
religieux  ';Ed.  Migne)  ill.  :];)2. 


IN  tup:  united  states. 


270 


I 
I 


I 


poiident  of  Vol- 
ises  tho  Mus- 


wo  do  not  hesitate  to  relate  at  some  length  his  history,  one  of  tiio 
most  edifying  which  tho  Church  in  tho  United  States  presents. 
Demetrius  Augustine  Gallitzin  was  born  at  the  Hague,  on  the 
22d  of  D<'''<'niber,  1770.  His  father  was  then  Russian  ambassa- 
dor in  Hollaud,  and  before  being  intrusted  with  that  embassy, 
had  been  in  the  same  capacity  in  laris,  w1umv»,  during  his  long 
stay,  he  had  become   intimately  connect(  h  Voltaire  and 

Diderot,  whose  perfidious  praises  flattered  tin  ..  v  of  tho  Rus- 
sian prince.  At  a  later  date  we  find  him 
taire,  and  in  many  of  his  letters  the  phil",-  )|. 
covite  noble  for  his  devotf'duess  to  science,  ai.u  al  ne  all  for  his 
spirit  of  toleration.  This  was  tho  period  when  Voltaire,  as  bad  a 
Frenchman  as  he  was  a  man,  wrote  to  the  empress  that  he 
regretted  that  he  was  not  a  Russian.  The  mother  of  our  mis- 
sionary, Amelia,  Countess  of  8chmettau,  Princess  Gallitziu,  be- 
longed to  a  great  German  family.  She  was  daughter  of  Countess 
RnfFert  and  of  one  of  Frederick  the  Great's  favorites,  Marshal 
Count  Schmettau.  She  had  two  brothers,  distinguished  in  the 
Prussian  army,  one  of  them  having  been  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Jena.  The  Princess  Amelia  was  brought  up  a  Catholic,  and  in 
early  childhood  showed  much  piety,  but  at  the  age  of  nine,  as 
she  herself  said,  was  diverted  from  devotion  by  the  oharnis  of 
flattery.  She  then  fell  into  the  hands  of  in  infidel  tutor,  who 
made  it  a  point  to  extinguish  the  faith  in  tne  heart  of  his  pupil, 
and  her  marriage  with  Prince  Gallitzin  tended  still  more  to 
plunge  her  into  incredulity.  Diderot,  at  Paris,  endeavored  to 
dazzle  her  by  the  sophisms  of  his  system  of  atheism ;  but  the 
perusal  of  infidel  works  only  excited  disquiet  as  to  the  state  of 
her  conscience,  and  soon  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  she  resolved 
to  retire  to  MunsLev  and  live  in  solitude  and  reflection.  In  1783 
God,  in  His  mercy,  sent  her  a  serious  illness.  Visited  by  the 
holy  priest,  Bernard  Overberg,  she  would  not,  from  human  pride, 
seem  to  fear  death,  but  promiwsed,  in  cnse  she  recovered  her  health, 


(■::/, 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


/. 


/Zf, 


t/i 


:/, 


1.0  :r» 


I.I 


1.25 


45 

li 


III 

13.2 


I2& 

1^ 


"112.5 
2.2 


2.0 


6" 


U    III  1.6 


V] 


<9' 


/2 


#: 


"W^^^^ 


cm  oS. 


■ff 


>> 


^ 


^. 


/ 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


C/j 


280 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


^i 


to  study  Christianity  seriously.  On  her  recovery  she  kept  her 
word.  She  was  under  instruction  three  years,  and  at  last,  on  the 
28th  of  August,  1786,  made  her  first  communion.  Directed  in 
the  ways  of  piety  by  the  Abbot  of  Furstenberg,  and  by  Father 
Overberg,  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  days  in  prayer,  in  struggles 
against  self-will,  and  in  regret  over  her  past  life.* 

Her  son,  young  Demetrius,  was  carefully  brought  up  aloof 
from  every  religious  idea.  The  prince  surrounded  him  with 
infidel  philosophers,  and  watched  with  argus  eyes  lest  any  priest 
or  minister  should  approach  the  future  heir  of  his  titles  and  for- 
tune. He  learned  all  but  what  it  was  essential  to  know,  and  it 
would  naturally  be  expected  that  a  young  man  of  accomplished 
education  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  would  seek  only  to  rush 
madly  on  the  paths  of  honors  and  pleasure.  But  all  the  father's 
precautions  could  not  exclude  grace  from  on  high ;  and  Prince 
Gallitzin  thus  recounts  his  astonishing  conversion : 

"  I  lived  during  fifteen  years  in  a  Catholic  country,  under  a 
Catholic  government,  where  both  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
power  were  united  in  the  same  person — the  reigning  prince  in 
that  country  was  our  archbishop.  During  a  great  part  of  that 
time  I  was  not  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church ,  an  intimacy 
which  existed  between  our  family  and  a  certain  French  philoso- 
pher, had  produced  contempt  for  revealed  religion.  Raised  in 
prejudices  against  revelation,  I  felt  every  disposition  to  ridicule 
those  very  principles  and  practices  which  I  have  adopted  since. 
Particular  care,  too,  was  taken  not  to  permit  any  clergyman  to 
come  near  me.  Thanks  be  to  the  God  of  infinite  mercy,  the 
clouds  of  infidelity  were  dispersed,  and  revelation  adopted  in  our 
family.  I  soon  felt  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  investigating 
the  different  religious  systems,  in  order  to  find  the  true  one. 
Although  I  was  born  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  al- 


% 


Her  life  has  been  written  by  Katerkamp. 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


281 


though  all  my  male  relations,  without  any  exception,  were  either 
Greeks  or  Protestants,  yet  did  I  resolve  to  embrace  that  religion 
only  which  upon  impartial  inquiry  should  appear  to  me  to  be 
the  pure  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  My  choice  fell  upon  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  at  the  age  of  about  seventeen  I  became  a 
member  of  that  Church."* 

This  conversion  did  not  at  first  divert  young  Demetrius  from 
the  military  career  which  his  father  wished  him  to  embrace.  In 
1792  he  was  aid-de-camp  to  the  Austrian  general,  Van  Lilien, 
who  commanded  an  army  in  Brabant,  at  the  opening  of  the  first 
campaign  against  France.  But  the  sudden  death  of  the  Emperor 
Leopold,  and  the  assassination  of  the  King  of  Sweden,  an  act 
considered  as  the  work  of  the  Jacobins,  induced  Austria  and 
Prussia  to  dismiss  all  foreigners  from  their  armies.  The  young 
prince  being  thus  deprived  of  his  military  position,  his  father 
advised  him  to  travel  to  finish  his  education,  and  he  arrived  in 
the  United  States  in  1Y92,  accompanied  by  a  young  German 
missionary,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bi-osius,  his  tutor.  At  the  sight  of  the 
spiritual  destitution  which  the  Catholics  in  America  suflFered,  he 
felt  a  vocation  to  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  on  the  5th  of  No- 
vember, 1*792  entered  the  Sulpitian  Seminary  recently  founded  at 
Baltimore.  Under  the  direction  of  those  excellent  professors,  the 
abbes  Nagot,  Gamier,  and  Tessier,  Gallitzin  made  rapid  progress 
in  piety  and  ecclesiastical  learning,  and  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1795,  received  the  priesthood  at  the  hands  of  the  v^^nerable 
Bishop  Carroll. 

He  was  the  second  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  first  who  received  all  orders  in  this  country.     For  the  first 

*  Discourse  on  the  life  and  virtues  of  the  Eev.  Demetrius  Augustine  Gal- 
litzin. Loretto,  1848.  The  eloquent  author  kindly  sent  us  his  discourse, 
adding  extensive  notes,  from  which  chiefly  we  have  drawn  the  edifying 
tales  as  to  the  noble  Russian  prince,  become  an  humble  minister  of  Jesua 
Christ.  The  sketch  of  Gallitzin,  by  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Piae,  D.D.,  has  also  been 
of  great  service.    It  appeared  in  the  Biographical  Armual,  1841. 


282 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Bishop  of  Baltimore  he  ever  presented  the  most  lively  admiration 
and  most  tender  affection  :  "  The  nearer  we  approach  Archbishop 
Carroll  in  our  pastoral  conduct,"  he  used  to  say,  "  the  nearer  we 
approach  perfection." 

The  young  priest  would  have  preferred  not  to  leave  his  holy 
and  studious  retreat,  the  Seminary  of  Baltimore,  and  with  this 
object  obtained  admission  among  the  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Sulpice.  But  Bishop  Carroll,  though  he  granted  him 
the  necessary  permission,  could  not  dispense  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gallitzin's  services  in  the  labors  of  the  mission,  and  the  latter 
soon  seeing  that  his  new  duties  were  incompatible  with  those  of 
a  Sulpitian,  separated  with  regret  from  a  society  for  which  he 
ever  professed  the  deepest  veneration.  The  first  mission  assigned 
to  him  was  that  of  Ccnewago,  where  there  existed  already  a 
flourishing  church  under  Father  Pellentz.  From  this  central 
point  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gallitzin  served  towns  and  cities  to  a  consid- 
erable distance  '  Taneytown,  Pipe  Creek,  Hagerstown,  and  Cum- 
berland in  Maiyland;  Chambersburg,  Path  and  Shade  Valley, 
Huntington  and  the  Alleghany  mountains  in  Pennsylvania.  But 
experience  ere  long  convinced  hira  that  he  would  realize  more 
good  by  concentrating  his  efforts  on  a  spot  where  he  could 
establish  a  Catholic  colony,  and  he  selected  for  his  domain  th' 
uninhabited  and  uncultivated  regions  of  the  Alleghanies,  where  he 
settled  permanently  in  1*799.  He  found  in  the  mountains  only  a 
dozen  Catholics  scattered  here  and  there  amid  the  rocks  and 
woods.  He  first  resided  on  a  farm  which  the  Magaire  family 
had  generously  given  for  the  service  of  the  Church.  There  he 
built  a  log  chapel,  thirty  feet  long,  which  long  suflSced  for  the 
few  Catholics  of  that  part.  In  order  to  attract  emigration  around 
him  he  bought  vast  tracts  of  land,  which  he  sold  in  farms  at  a 
low  rate,  or  even  gave  to  the  poor,  relying  on  his  patrimony  to 
meet  his  many  engagements.  But  the  Emperor  of  Russia  could 
not  pardon  the  son  of  Prince  Alexander  Gallitzin  for  becoming  a 


■*■ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


283 


f 


Catholic  priest,  and  in  1808  the, noble  missionary  received  from 
a  friend  in  Europe  a  letter,  saying : 

"  The  question  of  your  rights  and  those  of  the  princess,  your 
sister,  as  to  your  Other's  property  in  Russia  has  been  examined 
by  the  Senate  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  it  has  been  decided  that  by 
reason  of  your  Catholic  faith,  and  your  ecclesiastical  profession, 
you  cannot  be  admitted  to  a  share  of  your  late  father's  property. 
Your  sister  is  consequently  sole  heiress  of  the  property,  and  is 
soon  to  be  put  in  possession  of  it.  The  Council  of  State  has  con- 
firmed the  decision  of  the  Senate,  and  the  emperor  by  his  sanc- 
tion has  given  it  force  of  law." 

The  Princess  Anne  Gallitzin,  long  promised  her  brother  to 
restore  him  his  share,  to  which  she  acknowledged  that  she  had  no 
lawful  right ;  she  even  sent  on  various  occasions  large  sums  to 
the  missionary,  who  employed  them  in  meeting  his  engagements 
and  in  relieving  the  poor.  But  in  the  whole  it  amounted  to  but 
a  small  part  of  the  revenues  to  which  he  was  entitled,  and  when 
the  princess  married  a  Prince  of  Salm,  she  said  no  more  about 
restituting.  The  missionary  thus  lost  all  his  patrimony,  but 
offered  the  sacrifice  to  God  with  the  most  perfect  resignation  ;  if 
he  regretted  the  wealth,  it  was  only  for  the  poor  and  for  the 
Church,  not  for  himself.  As  his  panegyrist  has  well  said,  "  if  he 
had  had  a  heart  of  gold  he  would  have  given  it  to  the  unfortu- 
nate." The  Rev.  Demetrius  Gallitzin  was  therefore  not  only  the 
zealous  pastor  of  his  flock,  he  was  also  its  father  and  benefactor, 
and  never  consented  to  leave  it.  Imposing  on  himself  a  thou- 
sand austerities,  lodged  in  an  humble  cabin,  dressed  in  coarse 
clothes,  incessantly  traveUing  from  point  to  point  to  bear  the 
consolations  of  religion  through  the  mountains.  Father  Gallitzin 
found  time  also  to  study,  and  successively  composed  several  con- 
ti'oversial  works ;  "  Defence  of  Catholic  Principles,"  a  "  Letter  to 
a  Protestant  Friend,"  and  an  "  Appeal  to  the  Protestant  Public," 
in  reply  to  a  Protestant  minister  of  Huntington,  who  had  pas- 


284: 


n  ■ 


I 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


firming  Catholiot  f„  tlJZ'  '"  """'"'"S  Pmoslants  or  col 

-able  Mr.  G„llit.i„  died  t"  6t      ft"    '"'^  '^"^''-  "'"  «"" 
"'"ago  which  he  had  f„„„de   '„    l"'  *'"^'  ''*"' '"  ^-«o.  » 
«>o  Very  Rev.  Thomas  Ji°°j  '      ,  ""^  ■"'"""''■''^-     His  friend, 
SCO  of  Natche.  i„  Is"  ^mT^  '•"^  "^^  ^^'™g«' 
a^  Alleghanie,  and  i,.  '.he  1:^,^"  ^  l^;*    "^  "^  ^-'or  of 
nounced  a  funeral  oration  in  St  m\    ,!''P'«"'«'.  "ir,  ho  pro- 
;on  of  the  hod,  of  the  Jin^dP^r";.  "''"'•,'''  '"^  '"'-'- 
f"I  monument  which  the  piety  of  ht  "'  """'"'  '^'  ''^'"'«- 

liis  memory  *  '^^'^  "*  '"^  parishioners  had  raised  to 

The  renown  of  Prince  f!ol?;i  •  ,      ■ 
ie  acldeved.  spread  far     d^:r::/;*"^  '"'  °'  ^^ -■"■- 
«f  or  the  Episcopal    In  tl   ^0'  Bi,?".?"'  '""^"P"''™ 
">    825  it  wa,  resolved  to  er  c   1 1     .  2?  ''''«'''  «  «"  'ha' 
»"bourg  wrote  to  Bishon  ZL  1  ^''''^'"«'  ""^  bishop 
"Should  yon  jndge  it  oZrtane  J"  w^  ''""  "'  ^--'-: 
Rttshurg,  embraeh.g  thfCtol  h"^  ^  """™  "^  "  «*«  «' 
and  a  portion  of  vlgiuuTl'    T'""'  ™  "«  Alleghany 
^ould  propose  Princf  2,f;            ''  "'*  y°"-    *    *    *    i 
Maguire  as'second.    /tUnt  t^t  T  °"  ''"  «'''  »^  *! 
consequence  of  his  long  and  If'u  ^       ^"^  *"  ^^  f"™".  « 
las  effected  in  those  quart  „  "^d  I '"''  '"'  ""'  go-"!  io 
establishment,  which  Inld  ^v  t  nttft  "t/''^  "'"""'^  '^  '"«« 
On  h>s  side,  Bishop  Kenricl-  ^   ^  "  "ow  bishopric."t 
J^j^^^^l^MhenCoadjutor  of  Philadelphia 


# 
I 


<» 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


285 


i 


and  as  such  happy  enough  to  count  Prince  Gallitzin  among  his 
priests,  wrote  of  him  on  the  14th  of  January,  1834  :  "  Loretto, 
in  Cambria  county,  is  the  residence  of  the  celebrated  missionary, 
Prince  Gallitzin,  and  a  very  numerous  population.  It  is  more 
than  thirty  years  since  that  venerable  man  chose  the  summit  of 
the  Alleghanies  as  his  retreat,  or  rather  as  the  centre  of  his  mis- 
sion ;  thence  he  went  from  time  to  time,  to  bear  the  succore  of 
religion  to  the  Catholics  scattered  over  an  immense  territory, 
where  five  priests  are  now  occupied.  The  number  of  the  faithful 
at  his  arrival  was  very  trifling  in  Cambria  county ;  his  persever- 
ance, in  spite  of  all  the  difiiculties  with  which  he  had  to  contend, 
was  orov/ned  with  heavenly  benedictions.  The  mountains  have 
become  fertile  and  the  forests  flourishing.  Many  Protestants  have 
followed  his  example,  renouncing  the  errors  of  the  sects  in  which 
they  had  been  brought  up ;  and  Catholics  came  from  all  sides  to 
commit  themselves  to  the  paternal  care  of  a  priest  whose  pure 
and  humble  life  excites  them  to  the  exercise  of  the  evangelical 
virtues."* 

The  Catholics  of  Cambria  still  keep  fresh  the  memory  of  their 
princely  missionary,  and  have  given  the  name  of  Gallitzin  to  a 
village  which  has  already  a  church,  dedicated  to  St.  Patrick. 
They  are  particularly  distinguished  by  their  faith  and  patriarchal 
manners ;  and  gave  a  striking  proof  lately  in  the  triumphal  pro- 
cession with  which  they  welcomed  Monseigneur  Bedini,  the  Apos- 
tolic Nuncio.     In  a  letter  which  his  Excellency  addressed  to  us 


*  The  Gallitzin  family  has  also  had  a  martyr  to  the  Faith.  According  to 
a  family  tradition,  as  stated  by  Madame  Gallitzin  to  Bishop  O'Connor,  one  of 
their  ancestors  became  a  Catholic  in  the  time  of  Catharine  II.,  and  was  put  to 
death  in  punishment  for  his  change  of  faith,  by  being  required  to  have  a 
palace  of  ice  built  on  the  Neva,  and  to  go  through  the  form  of  marrying  an 
old  woman.  The  whole  thing  passed  as  a  joke,  but  the  prince  was  taken  to 
the  bridal  chamber,  where  the  bride  of  the  play,  aided  by  satellites,  held  him 
on  a  bed  of  ice  till  he  expired.  The  matter  was  then  hushed  up  as  a  joke, 
but  it  was  known  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  empress  to  take  him  off, 
yet  deprive  him  rf  the  honor  of  martyrdom. 


f.;l 


t 


286 

THE  CATilOUc  ctlVROS 

V,  notified  by  i,,e  Ai,„»,o  2  o    P   ^"^  T'"^'''    ™^  vil. 

'""owed  by  .on,e  fifty  carri  "  ,     U  "^  """^  »"  «--,  aod 
joyously  „o„„d  thoao  loft;i  „„^ '  :  r^f"'  oortege,  defiling 

everywhere,  and  e-spccially  a    1!?,    "f  "^  '     ^^  ''''ot  is,  tha. 
;^  "bounded,  and  „as  4hnT^',V"J  "'  ""'  ^'"''olies 
fy>»g  manner.    The  demonstXu  "     u    """'  '"'<'  ""«'  ^Oi- 
beautiful  or  more  brilliant  IT      •       '^  ""'  '""''>  been  more 
'eoeived  in  Canada."  ^  "'"'  ''""•'^^'^  »«  of  the  wcloori 

Tie  father  of  our  hr,]        •    • 
«ti«  unreconoiied  to  theMoTrr  "'I-''  """"""'^^  '-  '808, 
-  e  a  pion,  Catholie,  whi  e  hi  Cs'T   "T  "  P"«'  -^  h' 
embutered  the  last  days  of  tb.  "*'"  "^  Diderot.     Ue 

o--g  her  son's  eonCln     's^T  "^^o-bing  her  wUh 
t^nce,  and  expired  in  1808  fo,.,,«  !    °''!  ""  "'*  Christian  pa- 
'he  dying.    Her  exampl  ^^  fat  ";  1  ""  '"^  -"-'»«ons'of 
e«ed  a  salutary  i„fl„e„e^  on    he  f      ,        '^  '°"'  ''°"^"'=^  oxer- 
tbe  young  Prinee  Alexander  olv    ''    ?"  "'  "'*  »^P''«», 
«  St.  Petersburg,  in  1814  at!h!'  ^T'^  '*"'™^  "  ^  'holio 
P-Pil  of  the  Jesl,  and  this  llr^'        """•    ^^  ''^  ^o"  a 
»  Kussia,  and  so  imitated  hisTnTlrr  "'"""  "«-'»» 
«»  emperor,  that  the  Soeietv  oft  '°""=''  "f  Worship  to 

*om  Russia.  Another  luntj"  "" '■"^''-te'y  banished 
«».*olie  in  Eussia,  under  FthtrT'  ^'""'^^  •>-»«  » 
Pnocess  E&abeth  Gallitzin    h  ^      "'  ^''  '"=■'  daughter 

->'-,  entered  the  comrukit 7th  t'^"''""''  ''"  ^^^^ 

ty  ot  the  Sacred  Heart,  at  Paris. 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


287 


After  a  stay  at  Rome,  she  was  sent  to  the  United  States  in  1840, 
where  she  founded  four  houses  of  her  order,  and  died  of  the  yel- 
low fever  in  Louisiana,  at  the  ago  of  47,  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1843. 

These  illustrious  examples  of  return  to  unity,  are  not  the  only 
ones  which  the  Russian  nobility  have  given  within  the  last  sixty 
years.  Many  families  have  embraced  Catholicity,  and  form  a 
society  no  less  agreeable  than  distinguished  at  Rome  and  Paris, 
the  intolerance  of  the  Czar  forcing  them  into  exile  to  enjoy  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion.  These  conversions  would  be  far 
more  numerous,  but  for  the  cruel  persecutions  exercised  by  the 
Greek  schism.  The  wounded  Russians  in  the  Crimea  gladly 
confessed  to  the  French  chaplains,  and  the  prisoners  of  Bomar- 
8und  communicate  at  the  hands  of  Polish  missionaries  sent  to 
evangelize  them.  These  poor  people  are  full  of  faith ;  they 
know  nothing  of  the  subtleties  of  Photius,  and  would  cheerfully 
return  to  the  true  faith,  if  ambition,  pride,  and  policy  did  not 
keep  the  Muscovite  princes  out  of  the  Divine  Unity  of  the  Church. 

The  life  of  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin  is  little  known  in 
Europe,  or  even  in  America,  and  in  hopes  of  soon  seeing  an 
extended  memoir,  we  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  history 
of  the  Pastor  of  the  Alleghanies.  It  was  in  the  design  of  Provi- 
dence that  all  nations  of  Europe  should  furnish  their  contingent 
of  missionaries  to  the  United  States,  and  Russia  has  given  v.: 
scions  of  one  of  her  most  ancient  families,  to  preach  the  Gospel 
and  expound  the  Catechism  to  the  republicans  of  the  New 
"World,  and  the  tawny  denizens  of  their  Western  prairies. 


*l 


h 


11 


288 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHATTER    XIX. 

DIOOESK    OP   PITTSBURG DIOCESE    OP   ERIK — (1792-1856). 

The  Abb«  Flaget  at  Pittsburg— The  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  and  Charles  B.  Maguire— The 
Poor  Clares — The  Colony  of  Asylum— The  Chevalier  John  Keating— Colony  of  Har- 
man  Bottom — Episcopate  of  the  Bight  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connor— Sisters  of  Mercy— The 
Brothers  of  the  Presentation— The  Franciscan  Brothers— The  Bonedictines— Passion- 
iats — Early  missions  at  Erie — Bishop  Flaget — The  present  state  of  the  diocese— The 
Benedictine  Nuns— Retrospect. 


We  have  seen  that  the  Recollects  of  France  were  the  first 
priests  who,  a  century  since,  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the  fort 
around  which  the  vast  city  of  Pittsburg  has  gathered.  After 
them,  too,  a  French  priest  is  the  first  whom  we  find  exercising 
the  ministry  at  Pittsburg.  In  the  month  of  May,  1*792,  the 
Abb6  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  the  future  Bishop  of  Bardstown 
and  Louisville,  journeying  from  Baltimore  to  Vincennes,  the  sta- 
tion which  Bishop  Carroll  had  assigned  him,  was  forced  to  wait 
six  months  at  Pittsburg,  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  being  so  low  as 
to  render  navigation  impossible.  During  this  forced  stay,  the 
young  missionai-y  was  not  idle.  He  resided  with  a  descendant 
of  French  Huguenots,  who  had  married  an  American  Protestant 
lady,  but  who  both  received  the  Abb6  Flaget  very  cordially. 
The  latter  said  Mass  daily  in  their  house ;  and  then  devoted  him- 
self to  the  religioas  instruction  of  sc  me  French  or  Canadian  set- 
tlers and  the  Catholic  soldiers.  Fort  Pitt,  in  Pittsburg,  was  then 
the  head-quarters  of  General  Wayne,  about  to  lead  his  famous 
expedition  against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest.  The  general 
cordially  welcomed  Mr.  Flaget,  who  presented  him  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction from  Bishop  Carroll,  and  the  young  priest  endeared 


,r'v. 


i 


IN   TIIK    INITEIJ   STATES. 


289 


-1856). 

Magulre— The 
olony  of  Har- 
'  Mercy— Tl)  a 
nes— Passion- 
diocese— Tha 


e  the  first 
in  the  fort 
ed.     After 
exercising 
1792,  the 
Bardstown 
8,  the  sta- 
d  to  wait 
80  low  as 
stay,  the 
escendant 
i^rotestant 
cordially, 
oted  him- 
adian  set- 
was  then 
is  famous 
le  general 
iter  of  in- 
endeared 


J 


I 


himsolf  to  all  by  his  charitablo  caro  of  the  garrison  during  the 
ravages  cauMod  by  the  8iuall-pux  among  the  troops.  In  another 
circunistauco,  too,  he  displayed  a  truly  apostolic  zeal,  when  four 
deserters  who  had  been  retaken  were  condemned  to  death  by 
court-martial.  Two  of  these  soldiers  were  Catholics,  another  a 
Protestant,  the  fourth  a  French  infidel.  Mr.  Flaget  visited  them 
in  prison,  and  though  he  spoke  but  little  English,  he  had  the 
consolation  of  converting  the  l*rotestant,  and  administering  the 
sacraments  to  the  two  Catholics.  As  to  the  Frenchman,  ho  ob- 
stinately refused  all  the  succors  of  religion  ;  and  the  grief  which 
the  missionary  expressed  at  the  thought  of  the  impenitence  of  his 
eouutryuian,  induced  General  Wayne  to  grant  him  the  pardon  of 
the  culprit.* 

In  1796,  13utler  county,  lying  north  of  Pittsburg,  was  declared 
by  government  open  to  colonization ;  and  Iiish  Catholics  from 
Youngstown  immediately  began  to  settle  there,  and  others  swelled 
the  population  of  Pittsburg.  A  mission  was  founded  at  Sugar 
Creek,  and  was  attended,  it  is  believed,  by  Father  C.  Whelan. 
In  the  first  years  of  this  century,  the  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  had  the 
centre  of  this  mission,  at  Brownsville,  forty  miles  south  of  Pitts- 
burg, which  latter  city  he  visited  every  month,  to  say  Mass  for 
the  few  Catholics  who  gathered  around  him  in  a  private  room. 
About  1807,  however,  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien  made  Pittsburg  his 
residence,  and  in  the  following  year  erected  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
so  apparently  large  for  the  wants  of  the  faithful,  that  he  was  long 
annoyed  with  reproaches  of  extravagance.  Yet  it  was  only  fore- 
sight ;  and  since  then,  although  additions  have  nearly  doubled 
the  church  in  size,  it  is  not,f  with  the  eleven  other  churches  or 
chapels  that  rise  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  sufficient  for  the 

*  Bishop  Spalding,     Life,  &c.,  of  Bishop  Flagot,  p.  80. 

+  The  present  St.  Patrick's  is  not  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  which  was 
burnt  in  1854,  as  the  place  had  become  unfit  for  a  church  from  the  railroadti 
coneentratiug  iu  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

13 


290 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIirUCH 


Catholic,  populiition  of  tlio  opiscopnl  Soo  of  Pittsburg.  Tho  Rev. 
Mr.  O'Brion  zoaluiwly  discluirgod  the  functions  of  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's  till  March,  1820.  At  that  epoch  ho  retired  to  Mary- 
laud,  his  native  State,  and,  except  a  short  stay  at  Couewago, 
never  left,  and  died  some  years  after,  it  would  seem,  at  An- 
napolis. 

Tho  llov.  F.  X.  O'Brien  was  succeeded  at  Pittsburg  by  Father 
Charles  B.  Maguiro,  an  Irish  Franciscan,  who  had  studied  at 
St.  Isidore's  Convent,  Rome.  IIo  was  even  a  professor  there, 
when  the  French  invasion  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Germany, 
where  he  received  from  the  royal  family  of  Bourbon,  then  exiled 
from  France,  many  favors  and  marks  of  respect.  IIo  came  to 
the  United  States  about  1812,  and  the  mission  of  Westmoreland 
county,  comprising  Latrobe  and  Youngstown,  was  first  assigned 
to  him.  I'here  Father  Brouwer  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  1780 ; 
and  this  cradle  of  Catholicity  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg  has 
become,  since  1846,  the  cradle  of  the  Benedictine  Order  in  the 
United  States.  Father  Maguiro,  who  baptized  most  of  the  Cath- 
olics of  this  generation  at  Pittsburg,  was  full  of  ambition  for 
God's  glory.  St.  Patrick's  Church,  even  with  its  additions,  did 
not  seem,  in  his  eyes,  large  enough  for  the  present  and  future  of 
his  congregation.  On  a  hill  in  Grand-street  he  resolved  to  build 
a  cathedral,  long  before  there  was  any  mention  of  having  a  bish- 
op at  Pittsburg ;  and  he  undertook,  with  rare  energy,  tho  con- 
struction of  St.  Paul's  Church.  Yet  he  did  not  live  to  see  it 
consecrated.  This  took  place  in  1834,  and  in  July  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  Father  Maguire  had  died  at  Pittsburg.  The  Rev. 
John  O'Reilly,  who  had  been  Father  Maguire's  assistant  from 
1831,  succeeded  him  in  his  pastoral  charge,  and  was  replaced  in 
1844  by  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor,  now  Bishop  of  Pittsburg. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  the  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia, 
wrote,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1834  : 

"  Pittsburg,  a  considerable  city,  at  the  other  extremity  of  Penn- 


IN'   TlIK   UNITED  STATES. 


291 


.    Tho  Rcr. 

lastor  of  St. 

!cl  to  Maiy- 

Couewago, 

icm,  at  Au- 

g  by  Father 
1  studied  at 
fessor  there, 
bo  Germany, 
,  then  exiled 
[lo  came  to 
'estmoieland 
irst  assigned 
)de  in  1789; 
'ittsburg  has 
)rder  in  the 
of  the  Cuth- 
imbition  for 
dditions,  did 
md  future  of 
ved  to  build 
ving  a  bish- 
^y,  the  con- 
e  to  see  it 
of  the  pre- 
The  Rev. 
istant  from 
replaced  in 
Pittsburg, 
hiladelphia, 

ity  of  Penn- 


=Sf. 


Rylvania,  ainid  u  poitulation  of  twenty  thousand  noiils,  contain.'*, 
according  to  a  niudfrato  computation,  f»)iw  or  five  thouHand 
Catholics.  Tims  far,  wo  have  had  only  one  church  there,  St. 
Patrick's:  but  we  lioue  soon  to  have  another,  St.  I'aul'.s,  a  vast 


It 


cditice,  far  advanced,  and  of  nuignificent  construction.  It  is  now 
five  years  since  this  new  church  was  begun  ;  but  want  of  pecu- 
niary resources  h:is  retarded  its  completion.  The  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Mr.  John  O'Reilly,  who  lias  already  built  three  churches 
at  Newry,  Huntington,  and  IV'llefonte,  is  now  using  every  effort 
to  complete  St.  Patrick*»  at  IMttsburg.  The  Ab])6  Mas(iuelet,  an 
Alsacian,  aids  him  in  the  functions  of  tho  holy  ministry,  princi- 
pally by  taking  the  cuarge  of  tho  Germans,  who  are  very  nume- 
rous, and  of  some  Fiench  who  reside  there.  Near  I'ittsburg,  tho 
Poor  Clares  have  a  convent,  containing  fourteen  religious,  under 
the  spiritual  direction  of  Father  Van  do  Wcjer,  a  Iklgian  re- 
ligious of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic* 

This  monastery,  which  was  the  first  established  religious  com- 
munity in  that  part  of  Pennsylvania,  had  been  founded  aV)out 
1828  at  Alleghenytown,  in  the  neigh'oorhood  of  I'ittsburg.  Sister 
Frances  Van  do  Vogel,  belonging  to  a  wealthy  Flemish  family, 
arrived  from  Belg'um  in  Pennsylvania  with  one  of  her  compan- 
ions, and  purchased  witii  her  own  means  the  property  on  whieh 
the  convent  waa  built.  Father  Maguiro  took  a  great  interest  in 
this  foundation,  and  encouraged  it  by  his  influence  and  counsels. 
About  1830,  the  Poor  Clares  established  another  house  at  Green 
Bay,  in  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin  ;  but  neither  house  ac- 
quired stability,  and  after  difficulties  of  jurisdiction  with  Dr. 
Res6,  Bishop  of  Detroit,  Madame  Van  de  Vogel,  who  claimed  to  bo. 
sole  Superior  of  the  Order,  became  discouraged,  and  sold  tho 


♦  AnnAlca  do  la  Propagation  de  la  Fol,  viii.  215.  Tho  Kev.  Fran(;oi9 
Miaquel^t  removed  iu  1817  to  tho  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  and  W!i«  stationed 
ftt  St.  Martia's,  near  yayetteville.  His  name  does  not  appear  after  1840,  nor 
jfatbir  Van  do  Wejer's  after  1835. 


-f 


292 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


property  in  both  places.  Some  of  the  religious  returned  to  Bel- 
gium, others  entered  various  communities,  and  Madame  Van  de 
Vogel  retired  to  Rome.  Thus,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Clare  failed  in 
Pennsylvania  and  in  Wisconsin,  as  they  had  failed  in  George- 
town in  the  last  century ;  and  the  Almighty  refused  them  that 
vitality,  with  which  so  many  other  communities  in  the  United 
States  show  themselves  to  have  been  gifted. 

In  the  letter  already  cited.  Bishop  Kenrick  gives  other  inter- 
esting details  as  to  the  religious  state  of  Catholics  in  Western 
Pennsylvania.  "  On  my  visit  to  St.  Peter's,  Brownsville,  a  little 
village  on  the  Monongahela  river,  I  was  much  edified  at  the  joy 
with  which  a  pious  French  -sn  idow,  residing  in  the  neighborhood, 
came,  with  her  children,  to  approach  the  sacraments,  which  she 
■•had  been  debarred  fiom  for  years,  in  consequence  of  not  meeting 
a  priest  who  understood  her  language.  The  faithful  of  this  mis- 
sion are  to  be  pitied,  being  able  only  four  times  a  year  to  enjoy 
the  presence  of  a  priest,  the  pastor  of  Blairsville,  Rev.  James 
Ambrose  Stillinger,  a  young  American  priest,  who  visits  them 
thus  till  I  can  place  a  pastor  here.*  The  French  families  in 
Potter  county  have  not  even  this  consolation,  for  it  is  only  at 
rare  intervals  that  the  pastor  of  All  Saints,  Lewistown,  who  has 
charge  of  this  mission,  and  those  of  Clearfield  and  Bellefonte,f 
can  take  the  long  journey  necessary  to  visit  them.  He  travels 
sixty  miles  every  month  to  go  to  Clearfield,  where  there  are  many 
French  ;  but  those  in  Potter  county  are  still  farther  off." 

This  French  immigiation,  to  the  importance  of  which,  in 
Pennsylvania,  Bishop  Kenrick,  in  several  instances,  alludes,  took 
place  at  diiferent  epochs  ;  but  the  principal  attempts  at  coloni- 
zation were  induced  by  the  Reign  of  Terror,  which  drove  from 
France  its  noblest  and  best  families.     On  perusing  the  travels  of 


¥ 


*  He  is  still  pastor  of  Blairsville. 

t  These  are  still  in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


293 


urned  to  Bel- 
lame  Van  de 
are  failed  in 
i  in  George- 
ed  them  that 
1  the  United 

1  other  inter- 

I  in  Western 

iville,  a  little 

id  at  the  joy 

eighborhood, 

s,  which  she 

not  meeting 

of  this  mis- 

3ar  to  enjoy 

Rev.  James 

visits  them 

families  in 

is  only  at 

n,  who  has 

Bellefonte,f 

He  travels 

'e  are  many 

bff." 

which,  in 

hides,  took 

s  at  coloni- 

cliove  from 

3  travels  of 


•1 

-1 


the  Duke  of  Larochefoucauld-Liancourt,  in  the  interior  of  the 
United  States,  in  ll95,  VOQ,  and  ll9l*  we  are  surprised  at 
the  number  of  French  whom  he  finds  at  every  step,  even  to  the 
very  backwoods,  then  inhabited  by  the  Indians.  In  another 
portion  of  this  history,  we  have  shown  how  the  descendants  of 
the  French  now  form  one  of  the  elements  of  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States.  Still,  many  families,  cut  off  from 
all  religious  aid,  unhappily  saw  the  faith  expire  in  their  children; 
and  what  is  more  sad,  other  families,  placed  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous positions,  made  no  effort  to  secure  their  offspring  from 
Protestantism.  In  1794,  thirty  families  of  French  officers  and 
nobility  founded  the  Colony  of  Asylum,  near  Towanda,  in  Brad- 
ford county.  Some  came  from  Paris,  others  from  St.  Domingo, 
and  a  number  of  mechanics  and  negroes  followed  them  to  their 
new  abode.  They  were  also  attended  by  several  priests — the 
Abbe  de  Bec-de-Lievre,  formerly  a  canon  in  Brittany ;  the  x\bbe 
Carles,  canon  of  Quercy ;  the  Abbe  de  Sevigny,  Archdeacon  of 
Toul ;  and  the  Abbe  Fromentin,  of  Etampes.  Mr.  Nores,  a  grad- 
uate of  the  Holy  Chapel,  and  possessor  of  a  small  prioiy,  al- 
though not  in  orders,  was  another  of  the  party.  But  these 
ecclesiastics  were  not  of  the  stamp  of  the  virtuous  Sulpitians, 
who  at  the  same  time  offered  their  services  to  Bishop  Carroll, 
and  hastened  to  preach  the  Gospel  wherever  that  prelate  sent 
them,  whether  to  Boston,  Vincennes,  Kentucky,  or  other  parts  of 
his  vast  diocese.  The  Abbes  of  Asylum  never  asked  the  bishop 
for  faculties  to  exercise  the  ministry  in  America ;  and  thinking 
only  of  the  goods  of  this  world,  became  grocers  or  farmers.  In 
a  spot  which  contained  four  priests.  Mass  was  never  offei'cd. 
They  never  even  thought  of  arranging  a  place  for  a  chapel, 
where  the  settlers  might  meet  morning  and  evening,  to  raise  up 


*  Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  213.  Voyage  dans  lea  Etals- 
Unis  d'Amcriquc  tait  en  1795, 1796,  ot  1797,  par  La  Rochoibucauld-Liuucourt. 
Paris,  An.  vii. 


294 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


m 


nl 


i 

al 

V 
k 

it 

tn 

Ci 

Pr 

scl 


their  hearts  to  God.  No  worship  was  practised  among  these 
brilliant  officers,  their  companions  and  children  ;  and  this  shows 
how  far  the  philosophy  of  Voltaire  had  spread  its  ravages  in  the 
hearts  of  families,  and  even  in  the  sanctuary.  As  soon  as  the 
nobles  and  clergy  could  return  to  France,  the  more  influential  of 
the  colonists  of  Asylum  hastened  to  leave  America.  There  re- 
mained in  Bradford  county  only  the  farmers  and  mechanics ; 
and  among  the  descendants  of  these  at  the  present  day,  there  is 
not  a  single  Catholic — a  fatal  example  of  the  lot  which  awaits 
the  settlers  who  are  remote  from  true  pastors,  and  absorbed  in 
the  interests  of  the  present  life. 

Yet  we  are  deceived :  the  Colony  of  Asylum  had  one  priest 
who  soon  awoke  to  a  feeling  of  the  awful  character  with  which 
he  was  invested.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Carles  proceeded  to  Savannah, 
and  devoting  himself  to  the  ministry,  labored  among  the  Catho- 
lics of  Georgia  till  after  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  when 
he  returned  to  France,  and  became  Vicar-general  of  Bordeaux, 
under  Cardinal  Cheverus,  whom  he  preceded  a  few  days  to  the 
tomb,  and  whose  death  materially  hastened  that  of  the  saintly 
archbishop.* 

The  Colony  of  Asylum  also  endowed  Pennsylvania  with  an 
excellent  Catholic  family,  whose  virtue  has  been  honorably  per- 
petuated ;  and  an  account  of  the  patriarch  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 

*  As  to  Dr.  Carles,  see  Bishop  England's  Works,  iii.  252-4,  Hamon ;  Life 
of  Cardinal  Clioverus  (translated  by  Walsli),  p.  199,  where  ho  is  styled  a 
most  venerable  and  exemplary  priest,  whom  the  cardinal  had  brought  with 
him  from  Montauban.  Dr.  Carles  fell  dead  as  he  was  leaving  the  altar  after 
High  Mass,  on  Easter  Sunday,  1834.  Two  more  of  tlie  priests  at  the  Asy- 
lum returned  lo  France ;  but  one  of  them,  Mr.  Fromentin,  remained,  mar- 
ried, and  removing  to  Louisiana,  became  Clerk  of  tlie  Legislature.  As  such, 
he  was  a  leader  in  the  dispute  with  General  Jackson,  which  led  to  the  closing 
of  the  sessions  of  that  body.  He  died  of  yellow  fever,  which  he  had  braved. 
The  principal  families  at  Asylum,  in  1795,  were  Messrs.  De  Noailles,  Do 
Blacon,  De  Montule,  D'Andelot,  De  Beanlieu,  De  la  Eoue,  De  Vilaine,  Mes- 
dnmes  D'Antrepont,  De  Sybert,  De  Maulde,  De  Bercy.  Du  Petit  Tliouars,  the 
future  hero  of  the  Tonnant  at  Aboukir,  was  also  at  Asylum  in  1795. 


1 


IX   'I''        UNITED   STATES. 


295 


among  tliese 
id  this  shows 
■avages  in  the 
s  soon  as  tho 
1  influential  of 
a.  There  re- 
i  mechanics ; 
t  dav,  there  is 
which  awaits 
d  absorbed  in 

lad  one  priest 
:er  with  which 

to  Savannah, 

)ng  the  Catho- 

ourbons,  when 

of  Bordeaux, 

w  days  to  the 

of  the  saintly 

vania  with  an 
honorably  per- 
^lary's  Church, 

-4,  Hamon ;  Life 
re  lio  is  styled  a 
lad  brought  with 
ng  the  altar  after 
ricsts  at  the  Asy- 
,  remained,  mar- 
latiire.  As  such, 
led  to  the  closing 
;h  he  had  braved. 
De  NoaJlles,  Do 
De  Vilaine,  Mes- 
Petit  Thouars,  tho 
I  in  1795. 


riiiladc'lphia,  deserves  a  p'uce  from  our  pen.  John  Keating, 
born  in  Ireland,  on  the  19th  of  September,  1759,  is  the  grand- 
son of  Jeftrey  Keating,  who  raised  a  company  of  horse,  during 
the  siege  of  Limerick,  and  having  subsequently  retired  to  France 
with  King  James's  army,  distinguished  himself  in  Spain  and 
Italy,  under  Marshal  Catinat.  Valentine,  Baron  Keating,  the  son 
of  Jeffrey,  obtained  permission  to  return  to  Ireland,  but  finding 
the  penal  laws  intolerable,  went  back  to  France,  and  had  his 
children  educated  at  the  Jesuit  college,  Poitiers.  John  Keating 
and  his  three  brothers  entered  as  officers  in  the  Irish  regiment 
of  Walsh-Serraut,  in  the  Fi'ench  service.  At  the  period  of  our 
revolution,  this  regiment  was  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  then  to 
Pondicherry  and  Mauritius;  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
French  revolution,  was  in  St.  Domingo.  "There,"  says  the 
Duke  do  la  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  "  John  Keating,  having  the 
confidence  of  all  parties,  and  having  refused  the  most  seductive 
offers  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Convention,  preferred  to  re- 
tire poor  to  America,  rather  than  remain  rich  and  in  honor  at 
St.  Domingo,  by  violating  his  first  oath.  A  man  of  a  character 
at  once  severe  and  mild,  of  distinguished  merit,  rare  intelligence, 
uncommon  virtue,  and  unexampled  disinterestedness,  *  *  * 
we  may  say  that  the  confidence  which  his  great  intelligence  and 
virtue  inspire,  make  it  more  easy  for  him  than  for  others  to  ter- 
minate a  difficult  affair."* 

Captain  John  Keating,  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis,  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  organizers  of  Asylum ;  but  when  his  friends  returned 
to  France  he  retired  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  has  since  edified 
whole  generations  by  his  piety  and  virtues.  Although  moi'e  than 
ninety-six  years  of  ago,  he  continues  to  occupy  every  Sunday  his 
wonted  place  in  St.  Mary's,  and  enjoys  universal  esteem  through- 
out the  city.     His  daughter,  left  a  widow,  resolved  to  enter  a 


*  Voyage  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  i.  159. 
p.  187. 


See  Irish  at  Home  and  Abroad, 


i 


III 

u 


296 


THE  CATnOLIC  CHURCH 


convent  as  soon  as  her  cbiMren  were  old  enoiigli  to  take  charge 
of  their  grandfather,  and  she  is  now  Superioress  of  the  Visitation 
at  Frederick. 

If  the  Asyhim  gave  in  general  results  so  afflicting  to  rehgion, 
it  is  consoling  to  see  other  colonies  flourishing  under  quite  differ- 
ent conditions.  In  1832,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Heydcn  proposed  to 
Mr.  Ridelmoser,  a  wealthy  German  Catholic  in  Baltimore,  to 
draw  Catholics  to  his  lands,  on  condition  that  a  church  should  be 
built  and  the  ground  reserved  for  Catholic  settlers.  Mr.  Ridel- 
moser, who  possessed  extensive  tracts  in  Bedford  county,  imme- 
diately built  a  church  at  Herman  Bottom,  furnished  it  with 
vestments  and  plate,  built  a  rectory,  reserved  a  hundred  acres  of 
excellent  land  for  the  support  of  a  pastor,  and  allotted  sixty  moro 
for  the  support  of  a  school.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Heyden,  on  liis  fide, 
induced  Catholic  families  to  come  and  settle  at  Herman  Bottom. 
The  church  was  consecrated  on  the  1st  of  January,  1826;  one 
hundred  and  fifty  families  were  installed  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  assure  their  children  the  competence  which  agriculture  gives 
in  America,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  bring  them  up  in  the 
faith  of  their  fathers  and  the  practice  of  religion.  It  was  the 
success  of  the  scheme  of  Prince  Gallitzin  which  induced  Dr. 
Heyden  to  attempt  an  enterprise  of  a  similar  character  in  Bedford 
county,  and  Ave  see  that  he  succeeded  as  his  venerable  friend  had 
done  at  Loretto. 

We  have  said  that  Bishop  Kenrick  in  1834  noted  the  existence 
of  a  large  German  population  at  Pittsburg.  To  take  care  of  the 
Catholics  of  that  nation,  some  Redemptorist  Fathers  arrived  at 
Pittsbufg  in  1839,  and  immediately  began  the  erection  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Philomena.  Two  years  previous,  four  Sisters  of 
Charity  from  Emmetsburg  opened  a  school  at  Pittsburg,  and 
soon  took  charge  of  an  orphan  asylum.*     But  it  is  chiefly  since 


*  They  retired  in  1845  from  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg,  and  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy  have  succeeded  them  at  St.  Paul's  Asylum. 


ajov' 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


297 


take  charge 

be  Visitation 

J  to  religion, 
quite  difFer- 
proposed  to 
altimore,  to 
h  sliould  be 

Mr.  Ridel- 
inty,  imme- 
led  it  with 
'ed  acres  of 

sixty  moro 
jn  liis  fide, 
an  Bottom. 
1826;  one 

hborhood, 
Iture  gives 

up  in  tlie 

It  was  the 
duced  Dr. 
in  Bedford 
friend  had 

existence 
ire  of  the 
irrived  at 
n  of  the 
Sisters  of 
nrg,  and 
iHy  since 

Sisters  of 


1843,  when  Dr.  O'Connor,  instead  of  being  pastor,  became  Bishop 
of  Pittsburg,  that,  nnder  the  influence  of  his  zeal,  the  new  diocese 
saw  churches,  convents,  and  monasteries  rise  on  all  sides,  so  that 
it  is  now  one  of  the  best  endowed  in  the  United  States  in  the  re- 
sources of  its  clergy  and  the  number  of  its  religious  communities. 
When  Bishop  O'Connor  was  returning  from  Rome  after  his  conse- 
cralion,  he  passed  through  Ireland,  and  induced  a  colony  of  Sisters 
of  Mercy  to  come  to  Pittsburg.  This  was  the  first  foundation  of 
this  venerable  Order  in  the  United  States;  but  since  1843  it  has 
sti'uck  such  deep  roots,  that  in  1855  there  are  not  less  than 
eighty-four  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg  alone. 
They  have  under  their  direction  the  Mercy  Hospital  in  the  epis- 
copal city,  a  House  of  Industry  at  Alleghany,  four  boarding 
schools  at  Latrobe,  Loretto,  Hollidaysburg,  and  Pittsburg,  two 
orphan  asylums,  and  several  free-schools,  frequented  by  hundreds 
of  pupils.  Moreover,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  of  Pittsburg  have  sent 
colonies  to  three  other  dioceses  in  the  United  States — to  Chicago 
in  184G,  Providence  in  1851,  and  Baltimore  in  1855.  The  dio- 
cese of  Chicago  contains  already  forty-six  Sisters  of  this  Order, 
comprising  thirty-one  professed.  A  still  larger  number  is  found 
in  the  dioceses  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Hartford,  Little  Rock, 
and  San  Francisco. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  have  in  view 
all  the  spiritual,  and  even  all  the  corporal  works  of  mercy,  but 
more  especially  the  instruction  of  poor  girls,  the  visit  of  the  sick 
and  dying  poor,  and  of  prisoners,  and  the  protection  of  decent 
girls  in  distress.  To  attain  this  last  object,  they  open  Houses  of 
Industry,  Avhere  girls  out  of  work  or  place  find  labor  and  a  shel- 
ter. The  Sisters  endeavor  to  place  them  as  servants  or  hands  in 
good  houses,  and  as  families  rely  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Sisters,  they  apply  at  the  convent  in  preference  to  venal  intelli- 
gence offices.  During  the  short  period  that  the  Sisters  keep 
their  protegees  their  religious  instruction  is  not  neglected,  and  in 

13* 


298 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


every  city  where  such  a  liouse  exists,  it  has  prochicod  incalculablf 
good  in  preserving  young  girls  from  tlio  seductions  of  heresy  and 
vice.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  visit  the  prisons,  attend  those  con- 
demned to  death,  and  justly  consider  themselves  combining  in 
happy  proportions  the  life  of  Martha  with  that  of  Mary.  "  The 
offices  of  the  choir,  as  the  other  duties  of  the  contemplative  life, 
take  up  several  hours  of  the  day ;  and  these  assure  each  of  the 
Sisters  the  particular  and  distinct  grace  which  is  accorded  to  the 
life  of  activity  and  contemplation,  animating  her  amid  her  painful 
occupations  by  the  anticipated  sounds  of  that  voice  which  says : 
'  Cotne,  ye  well  beloved  of  my  Father,  *  *  *  *  whatever 
you  have  done  for  one  of  my  least  brethren  you  have  done  for 


me 


» «* 


This  institute  arose  at  Dublin,  in  1829,  and  its  foundress  is 
Mrs.  Catharine  McAuley,  born  on  the  l7th  of  September,  1778, 
in  a  castle  near  Dublin.  Belonging  to  a  Catholic  family  favored 
with  the  goods  of  this  world,  young  Catharine  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  her  parents  in  childhood  and  be  brought  up  by  a  Protestant 
uncle.  She  was  not  required  to  renounce  her  baptismal  failli, 
but  she  was  deprived  of  all  means  of  religious  instruction,  and 
many  a  young  girl  would  have  succumbed  to  the  influence  of 
such  an  education.  Miss  McAuley,  however,  resolved  to  remain 
firm  in  the  communion  of  her  parents,  and  as  soon  as  she  avms 
mistress  of  her  actions  she  was  instructed  in  her  religion,  and 
made  rapid  progress  in  piety.  Rejecting  all  offers  for  her  hand, 
she  conceived  the  project  of  devoting  her  person  and  her  fortune 
to  the  relief  of  her  neighbor;  yet  she  did  not  leave,  before  tlieir 


i 


■f^ ' 


*  Illustrations  of  tho  Corporal  and  Spiritual  Works  of  Mercy  ;  by  a  Sister 
of  the  religious  order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy,  with  descriptive  anecdotes. 
London,  1840.  This  charming  album  represents  in  a  scries  of  cngravinirs 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  iu  the  exercise  of  each  work,  and  was  designed  and 
written  by  Sister  Agncw,  a  convert  from  Protestantism,  authoress  of  Gcral- 
dine  Kome  and  the  Abbey,  and  the  Young  Connuunicuuts.  W'c  reyiet  only 
that  the  letter-press  was  ?o  brief. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


299 


''%' 


'^# 


death,  the  foster-parents  who  had  watched  over  her  childhood, 
and  even  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  both  her  uncle  and  aunt 
abjure  Protestantism.  The  spectacle  of  all  the  works  of  charity 
effected  by  Miss  McAuley  in  their  castle  had  preached  most 
effectually  to  their  hearts.  Guided  by  the  advice  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Armstrong,  she  bought  some  ground  on  Baggot-street,  Dub- 
lin, and  erected  a  large  house  to  found  her  peculiar  work  of 
mercy — "  the  protection  of  decent  women."  After  long  consulta- 
tions with  the  diocesan  authority  as  to  the  propriety  of  founding 
a  new  institute,  instead  of  joining  one  of  those  already  existing, 
Mrs.  McAuley  resolved  to  create  the  Order  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  and  entered  her  convent  with  some  companions  in  1827. 

She  soon,  however,  left  it  in  order  to  go  through  a  regular  no- 
vitiate in  the  Presentation  Convent,  Dublin ;  after  which  she  re- 
turned to  her  house  in  Baggot-street,  in  December,  1830,  and 
her  companions  in  their  turn  went  to  receive  the  veil  at  the 
Presentation.  Since  then  the  renown  of  the  good  effected  at 
Dublin  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  induced  other  cities  to  solicit 
them,  and  the  new  Dublin  Order  extended  with  wonderful  rapidity 
over  all  Ireland.  Nor  was  the  good  which  it  effected  confined, 
to  the  island  of  saints ;  it  soon  spread  to  England*  and  the  colo- 
nies of  the  British  Empire,  and  ere  long  the  Sisterhood  of  Mercy 
came  to  share  the  labors  of  the  other  religious  orders  in  the 
United  States.  In  1843,  Bishop  O'Connor,  as  we  have  seen, 
solicited  and  obtained  a  colony  of  seven  Sisters  for  his  episcopal 
city,  of  which  Mother  Francis  Xavier  Warde  was  appointed  Su- 
perior. There,  meanwhile,  God  had  prepared  a  most  valuable 
accession  to  the  pious  colony  thus  selected  for  the  undertaking. 
Miss  Eliza  Jane  Tiernan  was  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  wealthiest 
and  most  highly  esteemed  merchants  of  Pittsburg.  She  was 
educated  at  Emmetsburg,  and  uniting  in  her  person  the  accom- 

*  Tho  first  convent  in  England  was  founded  at  Bermondsey,  London,  ia 

1889. 


i 


300 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


plishmcnts  wliich  a  polished  educHlion  gfive,  with  the  iititnral 
advantages  arising  from  tlie  wealth  and  position  of  her  family,  as 
well  as  from  her  own  natural  talents,  she  was  one  of  the  greatest 
favorites  in  the  fashionable  circles  of  Pittsburg.  She  bad  been 
for  a  long  time  deliberating  on  her  vocation,  but  in  the  sununer 
of  1843,  before  the  appointment  of  the  bishop,  and  during  Dr. 
O'Connor's  absence  in  Europe,  she  resolved  on  examining  care- 
fully the  will  of  God  in  her  regard.  She  had  hoard  something  of 
the  Order  of  Mercy,  though  none  of  its  members  were  yet  to  be 
found  in  the  United  States.  She  obtained  all  the  information 
she  could  on  the  subject,  and  finally  resolved  to  recommend  the 
matter  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  to 
whom  she  had  always  entertained  great  devotion.  She  made  a 
novena  preparatory  to  his  feast  in  December,  1848,  and  having 
received  communion  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  resolved  firmly 
to  become  a  Sister  of  Mercy,  though  she  was  then  entirely  igno- 
rant of  the  means  by  which  her  resolution  could  be  accomplished. 
Bishop  O'Connor  had  already  been  consecrated  at  Rome,  but  no 
account  of  his  movements  had  reached  Pittsburg  before  the  3d  of 
December.  On  that  day  his  departure  from  Europe,  accompa 
nied  by  seven  Sisters  of  Mercy,  was  announced  in  the  newspapers 
received  from  Philadelphia,  and  these  were  handed  by  Mr.  Tier- 
nan  to  his  daughter,  when  he  came  to  dinner,  with  the  pithy 
remark  that  h'i  thought  he  had  news  that  would  interest  her.  It 
is  unnece^^sary  tc  say  that  in  a  few  weeks  she  was  a  postulant  in 
the  new  convent  of  Mercy,  and  in  due  time  was  professed  under 
the  name  of  Sister  Xavier.  Her  father  died  before  her  profession, 
leaving  her  a  handsome  fortune,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  use 
she  would  make  of  it.  She  bestowed  it  upon  the  connnunity, 
and  thus  eii.ibled  the  Sisters  to  become  almost  at  once  firmly 
established,  and  to  spread  rapidly.  In  1843,  the  Mother  Supe- 
rior resolved  to  revisit  Ireland  to  obtain  an  additional  supply  of 
Sisters  of  experience,  who  might  enable  the  community  to  meet 


f 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


301 


ler- 
lithy 
It 
t  in 
indev 
sion, 
e  use 
mity, 
rmly 
kipe- 
ily  of 
meet 


the  increasing  doniand  for  llioir  services.  She  selected  Sister 
Xavier  as  her  companion.*  At  the  various  houses  they  visited, 
all  were  so  struck  with  her  piety  and  good  sense  that  they 
referred  to  her  as  a  most  suitable  person  to  he  appointed  mistress 
of  novices,  and  to  that  office  she  was  in  fact  ajipoiuted  on  her 
return.  But  alas !  her  career  was  short.  Of  her  it  may  be  truly 
said,  "  In  brevi  explevit  tempora  multa."  The  Sisters  opened 
their  hospital  in  1847,  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  shelter  for 
the  sick  and  poor  of  the  city  but  an  abandoned  coal-shed,  which 
had  formerly  been  connected  with  the  water- works.  There  was 
nothing  in  which  Sister  Xavier  felt  greater  interest,  and  she  de- 
voted herself  to  it  with  all  her  energies.  In  the  spring  of  1848 
the  typhus  fever  was  raging.  Several  of  the  Sisters  contracted 
the  fatal  disease  and  fell  victims  to  it.  Sister  Xavier  was  inces- 
sant in  her  attendance,  but  though  she  escaped  the  typhus,  ery- 
sipelas, the  result  of  her  close  attendance  in  the  crowded  wards, 
attacked  her,  and  in  a  few  days  put  a  period  to  her  labors  on 
earth. 

Such  was  one  whom  God  raised  up  for  the  Order  to  give  it 
its  first  member  in  the  United  States,  an  example  of  all  virtue, 
her  personal  services,  and  earthly  wealth. 

Among  the  eminent  Sisters  of  this  house  who  have  since  de- 
parted this  life,  we  may  also  allude  to  the  Superioress,  Sister 
Josephine  Cullen,  a  niece  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  aud  Sister 
Aloysia  Strange,  cousin  of  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westmin- 
ster, both  primates  of  the  United  Kingdom  having  contributed 
in  their  families  to  found  the  Order  of  Mercy  among  us.* 

All  the  houses  in  the  United  States  are  not,  however,  filiations 
of  that  at  Pittsburg.  That  at  New  York  was  founded  by  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  who,  in  1846,  obtained  some  Sisters  in  Dublin 
for  his  episcopal  city,  where  they  have  accomplished  prodigies  of 

*  Letter  of  Rt.  Kov.  M.  O'Connor,    A  Sketch  of  tlio  Order  of  Mercy :  Dublin. 


302 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I' I 


jjood,  ami  in  1855  founded  a  house  in  Brooklyn.  The  house  in 
Newfoundland,  now  numbering  forty  Sisters,  was  founded  from 
Ireland  in  1843,  as  was  tliatof  San  Francisco  in  1854. 

The  venerable  foundress  did  not  see  on  earth  this  admirable 
development  of  her  work.  Yet  she  lived  long  enough  to  have 
the  consolation  of  hearing  that  her  institute  had  been  canonically 
recognized  at  Rome,  by  Pontifical  rescript  of  July  5th,  1841,  and 
slie  died  soon  after,  leaving  a  memory  in  great  veneration  among 
her  spiritual  daughters.* 

After  having  provided  for  the  Christian  education  of  young 
girls  and  the  relief  of  the  sick,  Bishop  O'Connor's  next  care  was 
to  secure  the  youth  of  the  other  sex  the  boon  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  with  this  design  the  prelate  brought  from  Ireland  with 
liim,  in  1845,  some  Brothers  of  the  Presentation.  The  mother 
house  of  this  religious  institute  was  then  at  Cork ;  but  God  did 
not  seem  to  favor  the  establishment  in  America;  one  of  the 
Brothers  soon  died  at  Pittsburg ;  another  asked  to  return  to  Ire- 
land ;  a  third  wished  to  leave  the  institute,  in  order  to  become  a 
priest,  and  entered  among  the  Augustinians  at  Philadelphia.  At 
last,  as  if  to  show  the  designs  of  Providence,  Brother  Paul  Carey 
and  Brother  BVancis  Ryan  were  struck  by  lightning  in  the  open 
street  on  tlie  2d  of  Jilly,  1848,  as  they  were  returning  to  their 
residence  in  Birmingham,  after  teaching  Sunday-school,  in  the 
school-house  attached  to  the  cathedral  in  Pittsburg.  Only  one 
professed  Brother  and  two  novices  were  now  left,  and  these  were 
too  few  to  continue  the  schools. 

Bishop  O'Connor  had  already  thought  of  replacing  them,  and 
applied  to  the  Brothers  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  estab- 
lished in  the  diocese  of  Tuam  in  Irc^land.  With  the  approbation 
of  the  Most  Rev.  John  McHale,  Arclibishop  of  Tuam,  the  cora- 
numities  of  Clifden  and  Roundstone  gave  six  members,  who  set 

*  Keview,  March,  1847;    and   intbrmat'on  afforded   by   Mother   Agnes 
O'Connor. 


It 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


303 


out  tor  Aiuoricii  in  1847,  iiiid  fomiilt'd  !i  house  at  Loivtto,  in  tho 
village  created  by  tho  Rev.  Demetrius  Gallitzin.  Tlie  chief  ob- 
j('ct  of  the  Franciscan  Brothers  is  the  education  of  youth,  and 
manual  hibor  is  their  secondary  object.  Tho  principal  convent 
and  novitiate  are  at  Loretto ;  but  the  Brothers  also  opened  a 
house  at  Cameron  Bottom  in  1852,  and  a  school  in  Pittsburg, 
where  they  have  over  four  hundred  pupils.  They  liave,  also,  a 
school  at  Allegheny  and  a  boarding-school  at  Loretto.  Thirty 
Brothers  are  employed  in  tho  diocese  of  Pittsburg,  and  as  the 
number  increases,  the  vigilant  bishop  confides  schools  to  them, 
to  shield  Catholic  children  from  the  dangers  of  the  government 
schools.  The  Third  Order  of  Franciscans  was  instituted  by  St. 
Francis  of  Assisium  for  persons  living  in  the  world,  either  in  the 
state  of  marriage  or  celibacy.*  At  a  later  date,  Pope  Leo  X. 
selected  from  the  written  rules  of  St.  Francis  those  to  be  observed 
by  the  Tertiaries  living  in  community.  About  1821,  a  branch 
of  the  Order  was  established  at  Mount  Bellow,  county  Galway, 
Ireland,  by  tho  Rev.  Michael  Bernard  Dillon,  J^'iar  Minor;  and 
the  Provincial  of  the  Franciscans  in  Ireland  appointed  him  Su- 
perior of  the  community,  a  post  which  ho  filled  till  his  death, 
1828.  In  January,  1831,  the  Franciscan  Brothers  obtained  per- 
mission of  the  Holy  See  to  depend  solely  on  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  and  in  1848,  those  of  Loretto  asked  to  obey  only  the 
Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  which  was  granted,  with  authority  to  open 
a  novitiate,  and  privilege  of  founding  houses  of  their  Order  in 
other  parts  of  America.f 

The  Catholic  education  of  the  sons  of  the  lower  classes  beint; 
secured  by  the  coming  of  the  Franciscan  Brothers,  it  still  remain- 


*  John  Beriiardon,  born  at  Assisium  in  1182,  was  called  Francis,  or  the 
French,  because  he  spoke  that  language  fluently.  lie  bejran  to  obtain  fol- 
lowers in  1209,  and  died  in  1226.  Ho  was  canonized  in  1228.  (See  liis  life 
in  Alban  Butler.) 

t  Information  furnished  by  Brother  Lawrence  T.  O'Donnel,  Superior  of 
the  Monastery  of  Loretto. 


804 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


ed  to  think  of  presoiviii<^  religion  in  tlm  hciut.s  of  (ho  yoiiiijj;  im-n 
of  higher  nuik  in  society,  by  oHtahlishing  ti  college,  witii  le.'irned 
and  able  masters.  While  anxious  to  secure  this,  IJishop  O'Con- 
nor warmly  welcomed  an  offer  of  the  13enodictines  of  Metten,  in 
Bavaria,  to  found  a  monastery  in  his  diocese  ;  and  in  this  course 
of  the  year,  1840,  a  priest  of  this  ancient  and  venerable  order, 
F'ather  Boniface  Wimmor,  now  Mitred  Abbot,  arrived,  accompa- 
nied by  sixteen  brothers,  and  four  students  in  theology.  'J'ho 
great  St.  Boniface,  who  evangelized  Gennany  from  720  to  7o5, 
and,  with  the  autliority  of  the  Holy  See,  created  four  bishoprics 
in  Bavaria,  also  founded  monasteiies  of  religious  there  ;  but  it  is 
not  certain  whether  these  monks  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, or  that  of  S:.  Basil,  borrowed  from  the  Eastern  monks. 
Boniface,  born  in  England,  drew  over  to  Germany  from  his  na- 
tive land  many  Benedictine  religious,  who  aided  him  to  reform 
abuses  among  the  Christians,  and  convert  the  idolaters.  But  the 
uncertainty  as  to  the  constitutions  of  his  monasteries  ceased  with 
tlie  year  804,  when  the  Council  of  Aix  hi  (.^napello  decreed  that 
the  rule  of  St.  Benedict  only  should  be  followed.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  this  century,  except  that  of  St.  James  of  the  Scots 
at  Ratisbon,  and  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns  at  Eichstadt,  all  tlio 
Benedictine  monasteries  in  Bavaria  were  suppressed  by  the  pre- 
ponderance of  Josephism,  and  the  elector  confiscated  their  prop- 
erty. But  t'.venty-four  years  later,  and  in  1827,  thanks  to  the 
influence  of  King  Louis,  the  Abbey  of  St.  Michael,  at  Wetten, 
was  restored,  followed  by  St.  Stephen's,  at  Augsburg,  in  183  s, 
and  several  in  other  cities.  The  work  of  restoration  being  crown- 
ed, in  1850,  by  the  establishment  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Bonifficc, 
with  a  novitiate  at  Munich,  a  new  generation  of  Fathers  soon  re- 
vived the  learuet  studies  and  teachings  of  the  ancient  Benedic- 
tines. When  it  w^  v^ronosed  to  found  a  seminary  for  the  Gernuiu 
missions  in  AmcU'j.'i,  he  Benedictines  warmly  entered  into  the 
project;    and  Fi«ther  Loniiuce  Wimiu'-^r  having  oftered  to  begin 


IN   'Hit:    UMlTEl)   t^TATKB. 


i;o5 


•SI 


I 


■;^5 


tlie  work,  was  sont  out,  by  tlio  Society  v)f  tlu»  NfiRslons  at  Munich. 
The  attempt  provoil  uiohI  huccoshI'uI,  aim  llm  Beuodictiucs  in  Peuu- 
hylvaiiia,  alk'i*  an  i'xi.slc'U(;o  of  only  nine  years  in  the  country,  havt! 
spread  so  as  to  number  five  monaslcrivs,  in  wbieli  one  hundred 
and  tifty  members  of  the  ^'reat  family  of  St.  lienedict  dcvot*;  them- 
selves to  ev  ry  jvind  of  intellectual  study  and  manual  labor.  The 
Holy  Sw^  i.  '■'  ti)'>  'I  into  consideration  this  remarkable  proi^rcss, 
and  i»\  brief  of  July  29,  1855,  raised  the  monastery  of  St.  Vin- 
cent, at  !  itrohe,  io  the  dignity  of  Abbey,  according  to  tho 
sti'Uitos  of  the  Congregation  of  Havaria,  and  aggregated  it  to  tluj 
celebrated  Abbey  of  Monte  Cassino,  in  Italy.  Father  Boniface 
Wimmer  is  appointed  first  Mitred  Abbot  of  the  Benedictines  of 
America,  and  will  have  under  his  jurisdiction  the  monasteries  of 
Carrolltown  and  Indiana,  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg,  and  tbat  of 
St.  Marystown,  in  the  diocese  of  Erie.  St.  Vincent's  Ablw;y  hjus 
a  very  flourishing  college ;  and  tho  Benedictines  will,  doubtless, 
in  conscipience  of  the  complete  organization  now  given  to  the  or- 
der in  America,  soon  extend  the  sphere  of  their  action  and  influ- 
ence. Eleven  centuries  since,  Germany  obtained  its  first  religious 
from  England  and  Ireland ;  now  Bavaria  rei)ays  the  debt  in  part, 
at  last,  by  sending  among  the  descendants  of  the  islanders,  in  tho 
New  World,  tho  Benedictines  and  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame.* 

Bishop  O'Connor  also  enriched  his  diocese  with  a  house  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame,  of  which  we  have  al- 

*  St.  Benedict,  born  at  N-.rci,  in  Umbria,  in  480,  begun,  towards  tlic  close 
of  the  century,  to  gather  compunions  around  liim  ;  and  ut  his  doatli,  in  543, 
had  alroa  iv  built  many  n  iiuisteries.  His  rule  spread  all  over  the  West, 
I  id  afiter  a  long  strugyrlo  with  that  of  St.  f'olurnban  and  tlie  Irish  monks, 
which  liad  prevailed  in  Ireland,  Britain,  France,  and  Germany,  finally  su- 
perseded it. 

The  diocese  of  Vinc«nnea,  also,  possesses  a  monastery  of  Benedictines, 
a  filiation  of  the  celebrated  Abbey  of  our  Lady,  at  Ensiedlen,  in  Sweden. 
Faithful  to  their  traditions  as  early  civilizers  of  Europe,  the  Benedictines  of 
England  and  Spain  are  now  laboring  to  elevate  the  savages  of  Australia. 
In  Bavaria  they  now  num  ler  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  Fathers  and 
fifty-five  nuns.— (Z^<^    of  Father  Marogiia.) 


306 


THE  CATnOIJC   CHURCH 


II'K; 


:ll  I 


:|i 

Mii!  • 


ready  spoken.  At  Pittsburg  they  instruct  two  hundred  and  fifty 
girls,  and  have,  moreover,  an  orphan  asylum  at  Troy  Hill.  The 
order  is  now  so  firmly  established,  that  for  some  years  no  Sistera 
have  come  out  from  Germany. 

A.  the  same  time  that  Bishop  O'Connor  was  laboring  in  the 
cause  of  education,  he  was  zealously  engaged  in  assuring  a  con- 
tinuance of  parochial  clergy,  and  his  success  has  been  admirable. 
He  found  but  fifteen  priests  in  his  diocese  when  he  took  posses- 
sion in  1843,  and  in  the  short  space  of  ten  years  he  had  increased 
the  number  to  eighty.  Besides  fixed  pastors,  the  prelate  sought 
to  give  his  flock  the  advantage  of  periodical  missions,  where,  by 
the  influence  of  holy  retreats  and  eloquent  preaching,  the  faith 
is  awakened  in  many  hearts.  With  this  view,  during  a  visit  to 
Rome  in  1852,  Dr.  O'Connor  asked  the  General  of  the  Passionists 
Vo  give  him  some  priests  of  his  order,  and  he  brought  out  with 
aim  three  priests  and  one  brother,  who  arrived  at  Pittsburg  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1852. 

The  Institute  of  the  Passionists,  or,  more  properly.  Barefooted 
Clerks  of  the  Most  Holy  Cross  and  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  was 
founded  by  Paul  Danei,  better  known  as  the  Blessed  Paul  of  the 
Cross,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1694,  at  Ovada,  in 
the  diocese  of  Acqui,  in  the  Republic  of  Genoa.  This  holy  priest 
began  his  first  community  in  1737,  at  Mount  Argentard,  and  on 
the  15th  of  May,  1741,  obtained  of  Pope  Benedict  XIV.  the  con- 
firmation of  his  rule.  The  object  of  Father  Paul  of  the  Cross 
was  to  unite  the  mortified  life  of  the  Trappists  and  Carthusians 
with  the  active  life  of  the  Jesuits  and  Lazarists.  He  wished  to 
embrace  at  once  contemplation  and  action  and  devote  himself  to 
the  ministry  of  the  word  in  missions.  His  rule  was  again  con- 
firmed, with  some  modifications,  by  Pope  Clement  XIV.,  in  1760, 
and  by  Pius  VI.  in  1775  ;  and  the  holy  founder,  who  died  at 
Rome  on  the  I7th  of  October,  1775,  was  beatified  by  Pius  IX. 
on  the  1st  of  October,  1852.     The  Institute  of  the  Blessed  Paul 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


307 


of  the  Cross  spread  rapidly,  especially  after  his  holy  ckalh,  anCi  in 
1810  there  existed  in  Italy  many  houses  of  Passionists  called  Ritiri. 
Suppressed  by  the  French  invasion,  tliey  reorganized  in  1814 ;  and 
in  1840  made  a  first  establishment  in  England,  at  Aston  Hall, 
Stafibrdshire,  under  the  patronage  of  Bishop,  now  Cardinal  Wise- 
man. The  Right  Honorable  Lord  Spencer,  converted  from  Prot- 
estantism in  1830,  is  now  the  humble  Father  Ignatius,  Passion- 
ist,  and  all  know  the  journeys  he  has  undertaken,  and  the  ardor 
he  displayed  to  form  an  association  of  prayers  for  the  conversion 
of  England.  The  order  is  now  divided  into  five  provinces — 
three  in  Italy,  one  in  England,  and  one  in  Belgium.  On  this 
latter  depend  two  Ritiri  in  France — one  at  Bordeaux,  and  the 
other  at  Boulogne.  The  General  resides  at  Rome,  in  the  house 
of  St.  John  and  St.  Paul,  given  to  the  Passionists  by  Pope 
Clement  XIV. ;  and  they  owe  to  the  munificence  of  Pope  Pius 
IX.  another  house  near  the  Santa  Scala,  of  which  he  has  con- 
fided the  care  to  them.  The  Passionists  number  about  seven 
hundred ;  they  have  missions  and  a  bishop  in  Hungary,  and 
other  missionaries  of  their  order  have  borne  the  Gospel  to  Aus- 
tralia.* 

The  Passionists  established  at  Birmingham,  near  Pittsburg, 
received  in  1854  a  reinforcement  of  two  priests  and  one  brother. 
They  have  opened  a  novitiate,  where  five  clerics  prepare  for  study 
and  the  functions  of  the  priesthood.  Want  of  a  complete  mastery  of 
English  has  hitherto  prevented  their  giving  missions  in  the  dio- 
cese ;  but  they  have  already  been  useful  in  the  ministry,  and  two 
of  them  direct  a  parish  of  three  thoiisand  German  Catholics  near 
their  Ritiro.     They  are  greatly  enlarging  their  church  and  house, 


*  The  Life  of  tlie  Blewsed  Paul  of  the  Crosa,  founder  of  the  Barefooted 
Clerks  of  the  Most  Holy  Cross  nnd  Passion.    London,  1853. 

The  author  is  Monseicnore  Strambi,  who  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity, 
Bishop  of  Macerata  and  Tolentino,  and  who,  before  being  raised  to  the  epis- 
copacy, was  Fra  Vincent  de  San  Paolo,  Passionist. 


308 


THE  CATHOLIC  CIIUKCII 


ill  . 


,,>.| 


';■!! 


Ill 

Id  I  t 

•It  1 


in  order  to  give  retreats  to  ecclosiastics  .and  laics  according  tft 
their  institute ;  and  the  adjunction  of  this  new  religious  order, 
for  which  the  Catholics  of  America  are  indebted  to  the  zeal  of 
Bishop  O'Connor,  bids  fair  to  realize  in  the  United  States  all  the 
good  which  it  has  produced  for  the  last  fifteen  years  in  Eng- 
land.* 

The  Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  finding  his  diocese  too  extended,  and 
fearing  that,  with  ail  his  activity,  he  would  be  unable  to  main- 
tain an  efficacious  superintendence,  solicited  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  Baltimore,  in  1852,  to  propose  to  the  Holy  See  the  erec- 
tion of  an  episcopal  See  at  Erie.  The  prelate  even  offered  to 
assume  the  direction  of  the  new  diocese,  and  there  to  begin  anew 
the  work  of  organization  which  he  had  so  happily  accomplished 
at  Pittsburg.  The  proposal  was  made  at  Rome  ;  and  by  letters 
apostolical  of  July  29,  1853,  the  Right  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor 
was  transferred  to  the  See  of  Erie,  comprising  the  ten  northwest 
counties  of  Pennsylvania.  At  the  same  time,  the  Rev.  Josue  M 
Young,  Pastor  of  Lancaster,  Ohio,  was  elected  to  the  See  of  Pitts- 
burg. Bishop  O'Connor  at  once  repaired  to  his  new  post ;  but 
the  regret  of  his  former  diocesans  at  his  departure,  and  the  opiu 
ions  of  his  brethren  in  the  episcopacy,  having  reached  Rome, 
he  was  restored  to  the  See  of  Pittsburg,  and  Bishop  Young, 
who  had  declined  it,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Erie  on  the  23d 
of  April,  1854.  On  his  return  to  Pittsburg,  Dr.  O'Connor  bent 
all  his  energy  to  complete  his  Cathedral  building,  to  replace  that 
destroyed  by  a  conflagration  in  1851.  This  misfortune  had  ap- 
parently exhausted  the  bishop's  resources  ;  but,  by  perseverance 
and  confidence  in  God,  he  at  last  reared  a  new  pile,  at  a  cost  of 
eighty  thousand  dollars.  When  we  consider  the  general  poverty 
of  the  Catholics  of  America,  and  the  frequent  appeals  made  to 


J 

'  in 
4 


*  Information  furnished  by  Kev.  Giovanni  Domonico,  Superior  of  the 
Eitiro  at  Birmingham. 


IN  THE  UNITED    STATES. 


309 


their  generosity,  we  can  scarcely  conceive  liow  it  was  possible  to 
erect  in  so  short  a  time  a  monument  of  that  importance ;  aiwi 
such  a  result  is  no  less  a  eulogy  on  the  zeal  of  the  bishop,  than 
on  the  munificence  of  his  flock.  The  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul 
held,  at  a  late  mission,  over  eight  thousand  persons,  and  is  the 
most  spacious  church  in  the  United  States.  Its  Gothic  archi- 
tecture reflects  honor  on  the  talented  architect,  Mr.  Charles 
Bartberger ;  and  the  ornaments,  statues,  and  stained  glass,  which 
adorn  the  interior,  give  the  nave  all  the  majesty  worthy  of  a 
Christian  people.  It  is  far  from  those  humble  wooden  and  brick 
chapels  which  the  missionaries  build  when  they  can  gather  at 
any  spot  a  little  nucleus  of  Catholics.  It  is  a  real  cathedral  of 
vast  proportions,  such  as  would  not  be  deemed  amiss  in  any  old 
European  city,  and  affording  room  for  displaying  in  all  its  pomp 
the  ceremonial  of  the  Church ;  its  lofty  spires  tower  above  the 
great  industrial  city  of  Pittsburg,  the  Birmingham  of  America, 
and  seem  to  consecrate  it  to  Catholicity.  In  its  inclosure  the 
Protestant  can  find  place,  when  a  curiosity,  which  is  sometimes 
the  first  sign  of  grace,  draws  him  to  our  churches  to  seek  to  un- 
derstand the  offices  and  mysteries.  If,  as  all  admit,  the  Basilica 
of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  has  been  the  instrument  of  converting 
many  heretics  or  infidels,  who  entered  it  hostile  or  indifferent 
spectators,  all  will  feel  how  useful  it  is  for  religion  to  possess 
some  majestic  shrines  in  the  United  States,  in  order  to  give  stu- 
bility  to  the  worship  and  fervor  to  the  faith. 

On  Sunday,  the  24th  of  June,  1855,  the  solemn  dedication  of 
the  Cathedral  at  Pittsburg  took  place  in  presence  of  seventeen 
bishops,  who  came  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  to  take 
part  in  that  imposing  ceremony.  Such  a  meeting  is  consoling, 
when  we  reflect  that  a  century  ago  a  French  chaplain,  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,*  was  then  the  only 


Metropolitan  for  August,  1855.    Vol.  iii.  p.  393. 


310 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


:;'^!iii 


"■ll. 
'Ml  ! 


mil  I  ' 

•Ill 
«!|l 


I  i 


Catholic  prelate  in  North  America,  from  the  frontiers  of  Mexico 
to  Hudson's  Bay. 

The*  city  of  Erie,  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  of  the 
same  name,  recalling  an  Indian  tribe  which  has  long  since  been 
swept  away,  is  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  French  fort  Presqu  'ile, 
and  in  1755,  as  French  annals  state,  this  fort  had  as  chaplain 
the  Recollect,  Father  Luke  Collet.  It  was  then  only  a  military 
post,  and  colonization  does  not  appear  to  have  entered  there  till 
the  close  of  the  century.  The  first  missionary  who  seems  to 
have  exercised  the  ministry  among  the  Irish  immigrants  at  Erie 
and  thereabouts,  was  the  Rev.  Father  Whelan,  who  took  up  his 
residence  at  Sugar  Creek  about  the  time  of  the  suit  against  Mr. 
Fromm.  His  visit  to  Erie  took  place  about  1807.  We  know  of 
no  other  missionary  there  till  Father  William  O'Brien,  a  native 
of  Maryland  and  pupil  of  Georgetown,  who  had  been  ordained 
in  1808,  repaired  thither  in  1815.  The  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Maguire,  of  Pittsburg,  held  some  stations  there  in  1816  and 
1817,  after  whom  the  Rev.  Terence  McGirr  came  to  Erie  three 
times  from  1818  to  1821  to  administer  the  sacraments.  The 
Rev.  Patrick  O'Neil  was  then  appointed  to  serve  Erie  at  long 
intervals,  and  his  last  visit  took  place  in  1830.  The  Rev.  Fran- 
cis Masquelet,  an  Alsacian  priest,  showed  himself  several  times  at 
Erie  from  1834  to  1836,  and  the  Rev.  Patrick  Raflferty,  the 
author  of  a  small  history  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  was 
there  in  1837.  Till  this  period  the  city  was  too  unimportant, 
and  the  missionaries  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  too  few  to  ena- 
ble Erie  to  have  one  permanently  stationed  there.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  McCabe  resided  there  from  1838  to  1840,  and  the  following 
year  Father  J.  Lewis,  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  German  population  who  had  begun  to 
settle  at  Erie.  This  was  the  epoch  of  the  erection  of  the  two 
little  wooden  churches,  one  for  the  Irish  and  American,  the 
other  for  the  German  Catholics.    Since  then  both  have  been 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


811 


rebuilt  of  brick,  and  of  more  enlarged  dimensions,  and  they  are 
opened  to  worship,  although  their  exteriors  are  not  finished :  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  which  now  serves  as  a  Cathedral,  has  had 
successively  as  pastors  the  Rev.  P.  Prendcrgast,  R.  Brown,  T. 
S.  Reynolds  and  Dean  ;  and  the  German  Church  of  St.  Mary's 
has  been  served  by  the  Rev.  P.  Kleidernam,  N.  Steinbacher,  and 
F.  J.  Hartman.  The  patriarchal  Catholic  family  of  Erie  is  that 
of  Mrs.  Dickson,  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  as 
soon  as  a  priest  appeared  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  received  the 
missionaries  under  her  roof,  showed  them  the  most  cordial  hos- 
pitality, and  has  always  generously  contributed  to  the  erection 
of  the  churches  and  the  support  of  the  clergy.  The  venerable 
Mrs.  Dickson,  who  is  still  alive,  is  of  the  Gillespie  family  at 
Brownsville,  noted  for  its  devotedness  to  religion  from  the 
introduction  of  Catholicity  into  Ohio   and  Western  Pennsyl- 


vania. 


It  has  been  said  that  Erie  was  pointed  out  by  the  venerable 
Bishop  Flaget  as  a  suitable  See  for  a  diocese,  and  we  read  in  the 
Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith :  "  When  we  trace  this 
journey  of  over  two  thousand  miles,  we  might  say  that  wherever 
Bishop  Flaget  pitched  his  tent  he  lays  the  foundation  of  a  new 
church,  and  that  every  one  of  his  chief  resting-places  has  been 
raised  to  a  bishopric,  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri ;  Detroit,  in  Mich- 
igan; Cincinnati,  capital  of  Ohio;  Erie  and  Buffalo,  on  the 
lakes;  Pittsburg,  which  he  evangelized  on  his  way  back  to 
Louisville,  after  thirteen  months'  absence,  after  giving  missions 
wherever  he  found  a  town  of  whites,  a  plantation  of  slaves,  or  a 
village  of  Indians."* 

Erie  was  not,  however,  a  bishop's  See  in  1850  :  it  became  so 
only  in  1853,  and  we  deem  it  very  doubtful  whether  Bishop 
Flaget  ever  passed  through  that  city.    In  his  journey  to  Canada, 


*  Annalea  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xxii.  341. 


I 


312 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUECH 


-.1 : ' 

nil 


■fill 
ill 

% 


.3;; 

ml 


the  venerable  bishop  traversed  Lake  Erie  from  Detroit  to 
Niagara  in  a  sailing  vessel.  Erie  was  then  too  unimportant  a 
spot  for  a  vessel  to  stop  at,  and  if  Bishop  Flagct  landed  for  a 
few  hours^  he  certainly  did  not  oflSciate  or  perform  any  ecclesi- 
astical function,  although  we  confess  he  may  have  passed  through 
in  1836.  We  accordingly  do  not  think  that  the  proposal  of 
Erie  for  a  See  dates  prior  to  1852. 

In  1855  this  diocese  contained  thirty -two  churches  and  sixteen 
ecclesiastics,  and  the  Catholic  population  is  estimated  at  thir- 
teen thousand.  Two  of  the  Benedictine  monasteries  of  Penn- 
sylvania, those  of  St.  Marystown  and  Frenchville,  are  situated 
in  the  diocese  of  Erie,  and  in  1853  there  was  established  also  at 
St.  Mary's  a  convent  of  Benedictine  nuns  from  the  celebrated 
monastery  of  St.  Walburga,  at  Eichstadt,  in  Bavaria.  In  1855, 
Sister  Benedicta  Reipp  was  the  Mother  Superior,  with  five  pro- 
fessed sisters  and  sixteen  novices.  The  Benedictine  nuns  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  girls,  and  direct  the  parish  schools, 
but  they  are  preparing  to  open  a  boarding-school,  in  order  to  give 
superior  instruction  to  young  ladies,  and  their  cultivated  manners 
admirably  fit  them  for  the  highest  sphere  of  education. 

The  convent  of  St.  Walburga,  at  Eichstadt,  dates  as  far  back 
as  the  year  1022,  and  was  begun. in  that  year  by  Bishop  Her- 
bert, who  made  the  convent  grants  of  land.  From  age  to  age, 
new  benefactors  increased  the  property  of  the  Benedictines,  so 
that  at  the  secularizatxon,  the  spoliators  found  a  rich  spoil  to 
divide  in  the  charity  of  the  faithful.  The  monastery  was  then 
almost  entirely  destroyed.  By  the  intercession,  however,  of  the 
Bishop  of  Eichstadt,  Joseph  Anthony,  Count  of  Stribenberg,  the 
nuns  obtained  permission  to  dwell  in  community  till  a  royal 
decree  of  June  7th,  1835,  permitted  them  to  receive  novices,  and 
gave  new  life  to  the  monastery.  St.  Walburga,  patroness  of  the 
Bavarian  Benedictine  nuns,  is  honored  m  some  parts  of  France 
by  the  name  of  Saint  Avaugour.    Daughter  of  St.  Richard, 


I 
I 

■J 


a 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


313 


f-1 


king  of  the  West  Saxons  iu  England,  and  sister  of  Sts.  Willibald 
and  Winibald,  she  was  at  an  early  age  placed  in  the  Benedictine 
convent  of  Winburn,  when  her  father  and  brothers  set  out  on 
their  pilgrimage  for  Rome  and  Jerusalem.  In  748,  her  uncle, 
St.  Boniface,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  invited  her  to  join  him  in 
Germany,  and  notwithstanding  her  disinclination  to  leave  Win- 
burn,  where  she  had  spent  twenty-eight  happy  years  of  her  life, 
she  set  out  with  thirty  of  her  companions.  She  soon  became 
Superioress  of  the  convent  of  Ileidenheim,  built  in  '752.*  Her 
two  brothers  were  also  called  over  to  Germany  by  St.  Boniface, 
and  Willibald  became  first  Bishop  of  Eichstadt,  in  Bavaria. 
This  royal  family  of  saints  issuing  from  England  to  convert 
Germany,  doubtless  now  protects  the  Benedictine  efforts  in 
America,  and  we  hope  ere  long  that  churches  will  rise  in  Penn- 
Bylvania  under  the  name  of  St.  Walburga,  the  noble  princess, 
self-exiled,  like  the  Bavarian  nuns  of  St.  Benedict,  in  order  to 
devote  herself  afar  to  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Thus  Pennsylvania,  where  in  1730  Father  Josiah  Greaton,  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  furtively  entered  in  the  disguise  of  a 
Quaker,  and  where  he  was  the  only  missionary  exercising  the 
holy  ministry,  is  now  divided  into  three  dioceses,  containing,  in 
1855,  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  churches,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  ecclesiastics.  Besides  the  secular  clergy,  eight 
religious  orders  of  men,  and  se'^en  communities  of  women, 
devote  themselves  either  to  parish  duties,  preaching,  or  the 
instruction  of  youth.  On  one  side  are  the  Jesuits,  the  Au- 
gustinians,  the  Redemptorists,  the  Lazarists,  the  Benedictines, 
the  Passionists,  the  Franciscan  Brothers,  and  the  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools ;  on  the  other,  are  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of 
Emmetsburg,  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  of  Puy,  the  Ladies  of  the  Good  Shepherd  from  Angers, 

*  Faber— Li"es  of  the  English  Saints  :  London,  1844  ;  Butler's  Lives  of 
the  Saints. 

U 


^BBSHSSEk. 


su 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Sisters  of  Mercy  from  Dublin,  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  and 
Benedictine  nuns  from  Bavaria.  In  spite  of  obstacles,  poverty, 
hostility  of  men,  these  institutes  prosper  and  take  root ;  the 
building  of  churches,  far  from  abating,  increases ;  every  day 
gives  our  Church  new  conquests ;  and  the  progress  of  Catholicity 
in  Pennsylvania  is  only  a  prelude  of  those  which  a  future,  fast 
approaching,  prepares  for  it  with  God's  grace.* 


"3; 
If  • 

i 


(81 ) 
',•11 


CHAPTER   XX. 

STATE    OF    NEW   YORK — (1642-1708). 

Missions  among  the  Iroquois — Father  Jogues— Father  Breasani — Father  Le  Moyne— 
Emigration  of  Christians  to  Canada— Close  of  the  Jesuit  Missions  in  New  York. 

When  the  Jesuit  Father  Andrew  White  landed  in  Maryland 
in  1634  with  the  colony  of  Sir  George  Calvert,  the  Dutch  were 
already  planted  on  that  part  of  the  American  coast  now  com- 
prised in  the  State  of  New  York ;  but  the  English  missionaries 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  too  few  to  meet  the  religious  wants 
of  Maryland,  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  within  the  borders  of 
New  Netherland,  and  the  first  Catholic  priests  who  trod  its  soil 
were  the  French  Jesuits  from  Canada.  In  1608  the  English 
captain,  Henry  Hudson,  sailing  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company,  discovered  New  York  Bay  and  the  beautiful 
river  which  still  bears  his  name.    The  same  year,  Samuel  Cham- 


*  For  what  we  have  said  of  the  three  dioceses  of  Pennsylvania,  we  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  receive  important  information  from  Bishops 
O'Connor  and  Young,  and  Archbishop  Kenrick,  and  we  now  express  to 
these  venerable  prelates  our  sincere  gratitude. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


315 


M 


plain,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France,  founded  Quebec,  and 
in  1616  brought  over  some  Recollects  to  labor  in  converting  the 
Indians.  The  Algonquins,  the  Montagnais,  and  the  llurons, 
were  soon  evangelized  by  these  religious,  as  well  as  by  the  Jesuits 
who  joined  them  in  1625.  The  Hurons  from  the  outset  sliowed 
a  friendship  for  the  French,  which  has  never  cooled ;  and  the 
colonists  of  Canada  became  by  this  simple  fact  the  enemies  of 
the  five  Iroquois  nations  who  dwelt  scattered  over  the  northern 
part  of  the  present  State  of  New  York,  between  the  Hudson  and 
Lake  Erie.  The  Iroquois,  continually  at  war  with  the  Hurons, 
constantly  bore  off  prisoners,  whom  they  tortured  to  death,  and 
in  the  same  way  a  priest  was  dragged  in  captivity  to  the  banks 
of  the  Mohawk,  in  the  very  neighborhood  of  where  Albany  now 
stands. 

In  1642  Father  Isaac  Jogues  was  proceeding  from  Quebec  to 
the  Huron  country,  where  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  mission 
for  over  six  years,  when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  party  of  Iro- 
quois as  he  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence.  These  Indians  led  him 
a  captive  to  their  village  with  young  Rene  Goupil,  a  holy  young 
man,  who  had  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  missions,  and 
who  was  called  from  this  fact  a  "donn6."  The  brave  Goupil, 
after  courageously  enduring  the  most  cruel  tortures,  was  put  to 
death  for  having  been  seen  teaching  a  child  to  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross.*  As  to  Father  Jogues,  he  remained  for  fifteen  months 
among  the  Mohawks,  and  had  daily  new  martyrdoms  to  undergo 
at  the  hands  of  those  savages.     They  successively  cut  ofi^,  joint 


have 
lishops 
res3  to 


*  Rend  Goupil,  or  Good  Rene,  as  the  miKsionaries  called  him,  was  born  at 
Anglers,  and  studied  medicine.  He  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  as  a 
novice,  but  his  healtli  did  not  permit  him  to  remain.  On  recovering,  he  gave 
himself  to  the  Canada  mission,  and  rendered  great  service  by  nursing  the 
sick  and  in  aiding  the  Fathers  as  a  catechist.  He  was  put  to  death  on  tho 
29th  of  September,  1642,  and  Father  Jogues  calls  liini  "  A  martyr  not  only 
of  obedience,  but  also  of  the  faith  and  the  cross."  (Shea's  History  of  tho 
Catholic  Missions,  p.  210.) 


310 


THE  CATUOLIC  CHURCH 


*i; 


%\ 


I) 


il-r. 


f!!! 

Il 


mi 


:iil 


if 


by  joint,  almost  all  liis  fingers  on  both  liands;  they  mutilated  in 
the  same  way  his  feet  by  tc^aring  the  very  flesh  with  their  teeth, 
and  applied  red-hot  irons  to  ditleient  parts  of  his  body.  The 
Jesuit  had  several  opportunities  of  escaping  to  the  Dutch  Fort 
Orange,  now  the  city  of  Albany ;  but  as  long  as  he  had  around 
him  Huron  prisoners  to  assist  in  their  torments,  he  would  not 
escape  from  his  tortures.  At  last  Father  Jogues,  being  left 
almost  the  sole  survivor  of  the  band,  listened  to  the  generous 
proposals  of  the  Dutcli,  who  paid  his  ransom  after  ho  had  escaped 
from  the  lumds  of  the  Mohawks.  The  Dutch  minister  at  Fort 
Orange,  Dominie  John  Megapolensis,  nursed  the  missionary  with 
touching  compassion.  At  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York, 
Governor  Kieft  received  Father  Jogues  with  marks  of  distinction, 
and  gave  him  a  passage  in  the  first  vessel  for  Europe ;  but  the 
vessel,  shattered  by  a  storm  on  the  coast  of  England,  was  plun- 
dered by  wreckers,  who  stripped  the  Jesuit  and  his  companions. 
At  Falmouth  he  took  passage  on  a  collier's  bark,  and  landed  Ju 
Brittany,  near  St.  Pol  de  Leon,  on  Christmas-day,  1643. 

In  a  rude  sailor's  coat,  dragging  himself  along  with  pam,  lean- 
ing on  a  staflf,  the  venerable  Jesuit  was  no  longer  recognized. 
Hospitality  was  no  less  cordially  extended  to  him  in  a  peasant's 
humble  cot ;  hero  he  was  invited  to  share  their  morning  meal, 
but  the  missionary's  only  thought  was  to  celebrate  duly  the  fes- 
tival by  receiving  the  Eucharist,  and  he  had  the  nearest  church 
pointed  out  to  him,  where  he  had  the  happiness  of  approaching  the 
altar.  For  sixteen  months  the  pious  religious  had  been  deprived 
of  communion.  The  good  Bretons  lent  him  a  hat  and  a  little  cloak 
to  appear  more  decently  in  church.  They  thought  him  to  be 
one  of  those  unfortunate  children  of  Catholic  Erin  whom  persecu- 
tion frequently  drove  to  the  shores  of  France ;  but  when,  on  his 
return  from  Mass,  his  charitable  hosts  saw  the  horrible  condi- 
tion of  his  hands,  Father  Jogues  was  compelled  to  satisfy  tlieir 
pious  curiosity  by  relating  modestly  his  history,  and  the  peasants 


■'*.:'? 


I  ik 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


317 


of  Leon  foil  at  his  feet  ovorwliolmeJ  with  pity  And  adinimtion. 
He  hiinst'If  relates  how  tho  young  girls,  moved  by  his  ac(M)unt  ot 
his  misfortunes,  gave  him  their  little  alms.  "They  came,"  says 
he,  "  with  so  much  generosity  and  modesty  to  otter  mo  two  or 
tliree  pence,  which  was  probably  all  their  treasure,  that  I  was 
moved  to  tears."  A  native  of  the  spot  where  this  touching  scene 
took  place,  we  hope  to  bo  pardoned  for  relating  it  at  length. 

Father  Jogues  did  not  employ  his  captivity  solely  in  his  own 
sanctilication ;  ho  celebrated  seventy  baptisms  among  the  Mo- 
liawks,  and  heard  the  confessions  of  tho  Huron  prisoners.  At 
Now  Amsterdam  ho  found  two  Catholics — a  Portuguese  woman 
and  an  Irishman — whoso  confessions  he  heard,  and  it  was  the 
first  time  that  the  sacrament  of  penance  was  administered  in  tho 
city  of  New  York,  which  now  contains  twenty-three  Catholic 
churches.  In  Franco  tho  fellow-religious  of  Father  Jogues,  who 
had  supposed  him  dead,  received  him  with  transports  of  joy ;  tho 
queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  rushed  to  kiss  the  mutilated  hands  of  tho 
martyr,  and  the  Pope  grjmtcil  him  a  special  dispensation  to  cele- 
brate Mass,  saying  "  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  refuse  a  martyr  ot 
Jesus  Christ  the  privilege  of  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ" — "in- 
dignum  essot  Christi  martyrem  Christi  non  bibere  sanguinem."* 
They  wished  to  retain  him  in  France,  but  Father  Jogues  sighed 
after  his  American  missions,  and  returned  to  Canada  in  1645. 
He  took  part  in  the  negotiations  for  peace  between  tho  Ilurons 
and  the  Mohawks,  and  conceived  great  hopes  of  converting  tho 
Five  Nations.  He  was  accordingly,  at  his  own  request,  sent  to 
the  Mohawks — the  Agniers  of  the  Canadian  writers — to  found  a 
mission ;  but  scarcely  had  he  approached  their  village  tlian  lio 


*  Father  Jognes  landed  in  Brittany  on  tho  25th  of  December,  1643.  Pope 
"Urban  VIII.  died  on  tlie  7th  of  July,  1644,  and  Pope  Innocent  X.  was  elected 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1644.  It  was,  therefore,  in  nil  probability,  Urban 
VIII.  who  granted  Father  Jogues  the  glorious  dispensation  rendered  neces- 
sary by  hia  rautihvtion. 


r    I 

1,^ 


318 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I 

c    i 


Sill 


was  treacherously  seized,  together  with  John  Lalnnde,  his  faithfiu 
companion,  and  tlio  next  day  both  received  the  nioital  blow, 
The  head  of  Father  Jogues,  severed  from  the  body,  was  set  up 
on  one  of  the  village  palisades,  and  his  body  cast  into  Caughna- 
waga  Creek.  Thus,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1040,  pc^rishod  tho 
first  missionary  who  bore  tho  cross  within  tho  territory  of  New 
York,  and  his  blood  has  not  been  shed  in  vain  for  tho  faith.  New 
Amsterdam,  where  Father  Jogues  found  two  Catholics,  is  now 
tho  Seo  of  an  archbishop ;  Albany  is  a  bishoprio ;  and  near  tho 
spot  where  ho  received  his  death-blow  rises  the  city  of  Schenec- 
tady, where  St.  Mary's  Church  daily  sees  tho  Holy  Sacrifice 
offered  to  heaven  for  tho  salvation  of  mankind.* 

Before  the  death  of  Father  Jogues,  another  missionary  was 
dragged  into  Mohawk  bondage.  This  was  Father  Bressani,  who 
likewise,  on  his  way  to  the  Huron  country,  in  the  mouth  of  A})ril, 
1044,  full  into  the  hands  of  these  savage  enemies.  He  had  to 
undergo  the  same  torments  from  those  barbarous  executioners, 
who  cut  ofi"  nine  of  his  ten  fingers,  and  after  four  months  of  tor- 
ment of  every  kind,  sold  him  to  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Orange.  They 
treated  him  kindly,  and  sent  him  to  France.  Father  Bressani 
landed  at  Isle  Rhe,  but  returned  to  Canada  in  the  month  of 
July,  1645,  and  labored  for  five  years  more  among  the  Hurons, 
till  the  extinction  of  the  Huron  mission.  He  wrote  a  history  of 
it  in  Italian,!  and  we  know  nothing  more  fitted  to  melt  tho 


*  Isaac  Jogues  was  born  at  Orleans  on  tho  10th  ot  January,  1607.  He  en- 
tered the  Society  of  Jesus  at  Eouen  in  1624,  and  was  sent  to  Canada  in  1626. 
In  love  of  suffering,  tender  piety  to  tho  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin, ho  has  seldom  been  surpassed. 

t  "Brovo  relatione  d'alcuni  Missiono,"  etc.,  printed  at  Maceruta,  States  of 
the  Church,  in  1653,  and  dedicated  to  Cardinal  de  Lugo.  A  French  transla- 
tion of  it,  with  a  valuable  biography  and  notes,  was  published  at  Montreal  in 
1852,  by  the  learned  Father  Felix  Martin,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  President 
of  St.  Mary's  College.  Father  Bressani  was  born  at  Rome,  and  entered  tho 
Society  of  Jesus  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  Ho  came  to  Canada  in  1644,  and  on 
his  recall  to  Italy  in  1650,  devoted  many  years  to  giving  missions.    lie  died 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


3L!) 


hcnit  of  a  Christian,  to  excito  piety,  nnd  atiimato  the  fervor  by 
the  recital  of  tho  toiicliuij;  convoi-Hion  of  tlit^  Indians,  and  by  the 
acts  of  the  nuirlyrdoni  of  their  holy  apostles.  Wo  seem  to  recog- 
nize the  scoiKss  of  the  primitive  rhurch,  beholding  on  one  flido 
80  much  purity,  simple  unil  trusting  faith  in  the  catochumens; 
on  the  other,  so  much  courage  nnd  unsluikeii  Hrmness  in  the 
missionaries  when  the  Iroquois  burst  upon  them.  We  oven  feel 
ourselves  more  sensible  to  the  sutfeiings  of  our  modern  martyrs, 
Brebeuf,  Lalemand,  Daniel,  Chabanel,  Menard,  than  wo  are  to 
the  torments  of  a  St.  I'artholomew  or  St.  Agatha.  For  tho 
latter,  the  halo  of  immortal  glory  which  environs  them,  tho 
difl'tsrence  of  manners,  and  the  remote  period  which  witnessed 
their  labors  and  sutferings,  prevent  our  being  especially  touched; 
but  human  nature  shudders  at  the  tormctits  endured  without  a 
murmur  and  without  shrinking  by  victims  so  near  our  own  times, 
speaking  our  own  language,  whose  handwriting  and  memorials 
we  can  yet  touch  and  handle. 

The  massacre  of  Father  Jogues  in  1G46  was  the  signal  of  now 
wars  on  the  part  of  the  Iroquois,  and  their  war  parties  overspread 
Canada,  sowing  desolation  and  terror  around  them.  In  1653 
Quebec  was  in  a  manner  besieged  by  these  Indians,  and  the 
wretched  inhabitants  were  menaced  by  famine,  not  daring  to 
venture  beyond  tho  fort  to  reap  their  harvest.  At  the  sight  of 
this  misery  one  of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Poncet,  encouraged  some 
harvesters  to  go  to  the  field  of  a  poor  woman,  himself  leading  tho 
way ;  but  he  was  at  once  taken  prisoner  by  the  Mohawks,  who 
led  him  to  their  villages,  subjecting  him  to  cruel  torturfis.  A 
change  in  the  policy  of  the  Mohawks,  however,  soon  led  them  to 
desire  peace  with  the  French,  and  they  restored  Father  Poncet  to 
liberty  in  order  to  conciliate  the  missionary.     The  latter  returned 


at  Florence  on  the  'Jth  of  September,  1672.  During  his  captivity  ha  was 
able  to  baptize  only  one — a  captive  Huron  at  the  stake.  (Shea's  Catholic 
Missions,  pp.  193-212.) 

11* 


320 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHLKCH 


i!)!ll 


to  Cjinada,  after  visiting  tlie  Diitcli  at  Furt  Orange,  where  lit 
heard  tlie  coufession  of  ^^veral  Catholics.  Father  Joseph  An- 
thony Poncet  de  la  Riviere,  born  at  Paris  about  1610,  studied  at 
Rome,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1G39.  After  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  Hurons  for  six  years,  and  being  long  pastor  of  Quebec, 
he  was  recalled  to  France  in  1G57,  and  resided  for  some  time  in 
Brittany.  We  find  him  next  at  Loretto,  Penitentiary  of  the 
French ;  but  his  zeal  could  not  endure  this  sedentary  lite,  and 
Father  Poncet  obtained  an  appointmeiit  to  the  mission  of  Mar- 
tinique, where  he  died  in  1675,  leaving  a  remarkable  reputation 
for  science,  talents,  and  sanctity.  , 

Another  Iroquois  nation,  the  Onondagas,*  also  asked  peace  at 
this  period,  expressing  their  desire  to  have  missionaries.  To 
judge  of  their  dispositions,  Father  Simon  le  Moyne  left  Quebec 
for  their  canton  on  the  2d  of  July,  1654.  Arriving  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Oswego  river,  he  ascended  it  to  the  Onondaga  village,  and 
was  welcomed  by  the  tribe.  Ilis  presence  especially  filled  with 
joy  the  numerous  Huron  Christians  captive  among  the  Iroquois, 
and  all  recognized  in  him  one  of  their  former  missionaiics. 
Father  le  Moyne  enabled  many  of  these  poor  exiles  to  partake 
of  the  sacraments ;  he  baptized  children,  and  even  adults,  who 
had  been  prepared  for  this  grace  by  tlieir  Huron  prisoners. 
Achiongeras,  one  of  the  chiefs,  was  the  most  zealous  of  the  neo- 
phytes, and  received  the  name  of  John  Baptist.  In  the  month 
of  September  Father  le  Moyne  returned  to  Quebec  to  give  au 
account  of  the  hopes  of  the  mission,  and  announcing  the  speedy 
coming  of  an  Onondaga  embassy.  But  the  war  which  the  Fries 
were  waging  on  them  delayed  the  departure  of  the  Onondaga 
envoys,  who  reached  Quebec  in  the  summer  of  1655.     Their 


*  The  Five  Nations  of  Iroquois  have  left  tlieir  names  in  the  State  of  New 
York— in  the  Mohawk  river,  and  the  lakes  and  counties  of  Oneida,  Onon- 
daga, Cayuga,  and  Seneca,  which  will  perpetuate  the  residence  of  those 
clans  ajid  the  labors  of  tiic  Catholic  missionaries. 


1; 
t. 

A 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  g^j 

Peter  Chi„o,' ^  J    ;  Jf-"'^''  ^^"--  ClauJe  Dabi„„    ^j 

of  the  late  ,vhc.o  ,1,   Zfs'  ""'""'  """'""  °"  "^  >'-'« 
of  I'ovembc,  1055,  tW  bl^^,?""  ■■°'''  "-•     On  the  18th 

ChaH,thefl.,tehu;ch4    f  heHoi:::"";'""  °'  '''  *'"'>-' 
"  the  State  of  New  Y„,k     ti  !t   ,  ^     ,      '"  ™'  ">«■  "»''-''*<l 

i"g  this  sylvan  shrine,  and  schoo  "       '       """"'  "'"'"'  '"  '■-- 
<'ag.,  where  whole  e  o L  '    "•     """  "°"  °'""°^  «'  ^non- 
^3-nna  of  ChHsti„„it,.  "Melth  ^'7  trf1.*°  "'"""  '"" 
French  eolony  ,0  protcet  them  aJnlt,       p  •  "'"'™  ''*^-^"«'   » 
■■eturned  to  Quebec  in  May  uTT       ,      '"•  ''"""=''  ''^»'''"n 
e™or  the  dispositions  of  thf  iLbn's      "        '"™  '°  "'»  «- 

» ...:  r ri  ™t:ror  ^  r ""— -• 

Fathers  1,  Mereier'  and  Reue  1  T"  ^''  ^""'"^'e^.  «itl> 
Bfoar  and  Joseph  Bour  ier  Ca^  ""'''f™''  "'""'^"■^  ^^"'^'-e 
formed  part  of 'the  convoy  "anrtr'"     ""''  ""''  ""'"^  -'"--. 

- -e,..t.  .^"r^:z;»  s,  ^dSr  9- 

Father  Rdnd  Menard  h        •  '^  "*' 

»crbSr:SSSHr-= 

14* 


j 

^v ; 


% 


M 


322 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIiUKClI 


of  tlic  Futliers.  The  Cayugas,  Oucidus,  and  Senroas  were  in 
turn  evangelized,  and  conversions  everywhere  rewarded  the  mis- 
sionaries for  tlieir  toil,  at  the  same  time  that  Huron  prisoners, 
scattered  among  the  tribes,  received  with  joy  the  consolations  of 
religion.  In  the  month  of  July,  1G57,  two  more  Jesuits  cama 
from  Quebec  to  aid  the  Fathers,  who  were  »-.inking  under  their 
toil.  These  were  Father  Paul  Kagueneau  and  Father  Francis 
I  )uperou.*  But  a  change  was  soon  perceived  in  the  dispositions 
of  the  heathen  Iroquois,  who  still  formed  the  great  maj(jrity. 
Their  medicine  men  persuaded  them  that  baptism  destroyed 
their  children,  and  a  plot  was  formed  to  cut  ott"  all  the  French. 
Warned  in  time,  the  missionaries  resolved  to  escape  from  their 
butchers,  and  on  the  20th  of  March,  1058,  after  giving  a  ban- 
quet to  the  tribe  to  lull  their  vigilance,  the  French  escnped  by 
night  in  boats  and  canoes  which  they  had  secretly  prepared,  and 
hastened  to  Canada  as  their  only  shelter  from  Indian  massacre. 
Thus  ended,  after  an  existence  of  three  years,  the  first  Onondaga 
mission,  and  we  shall  soon  see  it  arise  ;igain  and  produce  new 
fruits  of  benediction. 

Father  Simon  le  Moyne  had  visited  the  Mohawks  in  the 
month  of  April,  1055,  and  after  imparting  the  sacraments  to  the 
captive  Ilurons,  he  had  continued  his  journey  to  Fort  Orange  and 
New  Amsterdam,  where  the  crews  of  two  French  ships  had 
recourse  to  his  ministry.  During  the  next  two  years,  Le  Moyne 
again  braved  the  perfidious  cruelty  of  the  Mohawks.  Constantly 
menaced  with  death,  constantly  bafiling  the  plots  formed  against 
his  life,  he  never  lost  courage  in  his  labors  among  the  captives, 
and  flattered  himself  with  being  able  to  smooth  the  way  for  a 
sedentary  mission.  But  in  the  month  of  August,  1657,  he  was 
retained  captive  by  the  tribe,  and  would  have  had  the  glory  of 
martyrdom  had  not  the  Governor  of  Canada,  D'Ailleboust,  seized 

*  Father  Frnncia  Duperon  arrived  in  Ciiniida  in  1638,  and  died  at  Cliam- 
bly,  November  10, 1665. 


r 


h 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  3^3 

t-a.,  and  d„ri„g  t^xt  two  rfal  t he  f'";"' ""'' '°  *'- 
"  r'  '"'™^»-  «?'-'  the  Cue.  t  r  T"'""  "'"™''  » 
.    Ti'e  Oaondagas  were  the  firstC  i  f         ''  ™''  """•  ^"'•^'• 
-fluenee  exerefed  over  them  L  tire, ,/'""' ""'°'^ '^  ^o 
fi''endofthemis,io„arie,.    He  saved  V,"  ''"'^^'''>-  'ho 
«pt.ves  whom  he  could  reseue  tltt"!  t''*  ""  ""'  ^-"«'' 
■otaet  the  chapel  of  St.  Mary"     '"T^"  ''^'^^ '  ^e  had  j.reserved 
"•^  to  assemble  there  to  ehZtV       '^"""'"^  ""'  ^uron  prison- 
"«0  a  peaceful  emba^  seTtb  JZ  "'  "*  *-  '«'«'"     In 
""O  -  aoou  as  he  saw^  t      ^rr  ''"'"'  "'  ^outrea.. 
Moyne  set  out  for  the  OnondaT  „  ""'^''^'^  ^^^'^^^  'o 

P-ee  with  the  tribe.    He  profited  bv  r  '^  "'""  ''«  »"»'"<led 
■undredehi,dreu,aud  retura'^t  Molt^      J  *^  '°  ''»P«-  '"» 
;«".    This  was  his  last  missi  i^v  '^  '"       """"''  "'^"^ust, 
froquois.    He  died  at  Cap  dl      Mad,r'°"  '°  ""^  '^"<'  "^^^^ 

d-^.ve  our  veneration  as  fhest^""''  ''"'"""  ™-' 
the  iii-st  missionarv  who  of  bi,T    T-     ^^  ""'J-^d  Jogues 

«ms  of  the  te  Jble  Shawls  T''"?  ''™-^-'<'  t°  thetl? 
efforts  of  Garaeontie,  war  continued  t  ''       "'  ""^  P'aiseworthy 
ada,  and  it  was  „n,y  on  the         '  °r^'  ""'  '^^  "^  ^an^ 
««  s,g^d  at  Quebec,  with  ali    hi  n„*  ^^""'  '''«'  "'^'  Pe»«« 
-=;«  sullen  as  the  bea  ,  whose  nam!  IT  '"'P'  "-^  Moh^wi, 
*s  tribe  was  vigorou'sl,     hasfad  t    ""•     ^"'  -»"  -'"ted 
Vweroy  de  Tracy  made  Liusrei      VrP"«"  "*«'>  'he 

;'  July,  .667,  Father  Frem      B  *!    T?  """^ '"  "^^  ""-"i  " 
for  the  Mohawi  country,    nl  f'^T         ^"'■™  '^^^  Canada       ' 
-oeiates  proceeded  to  the  mor      e!,::;;!"  f  '"°"^'  "''*  «s 
^--  Francis  Boniface  came  to  s^ ^C:  Vt:; 'r^ 


S24 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHrUCH 


;  5 


•J 


k 

m 

It' I 


'IP 

i  I 


li 


conversions  became  so  frequent  among  the  terrible  Mohawks — re 
alizing  a  vision  of  Father  Jogues,  in  -whicli  he  saw  the  words 
"Laudent  nomcn  Agni" — that  Father  Thierry  Beschcfer  and 
Father  Louis  Nicolas  were  sent  to  their  assistance.  At  this 
epoch  Fatlier  Julian  Gai'nier  was  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 
Onondagas.  Father  Stephen  do  Carheil  was  among  the  Cayugas, 
•where  he  built  the  chapel  of  St.  Joseph.  Father  Bruyas  had 
liis  residence  among  the  Oneidas,  and  Father  Pierron  among 
the  Senecas,  while  Fathers  Milet  and  Fremin  repaired  from  town 
to  town,  distributing  the  benefits  of  their  apostolate  on  the 
various  tribes  of  the  league.*  We  may  say  that  in  1G68  the 
cross  towered  above  the  five  Iroquois  cantons,  and  for  sixteen 
years  Canadian  missionaries  succeeded  each  other  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  present  State  of  New  York.  But  it  was  especially 
among  the  Mohawks  that  the  Jesuits  obtained  the  most  con- 
verts; and  in  1673  the  two  principal  villages,  Caughnawaga  and 
Tinniontoguen,  were  organized  as  regular  parishes,  where 
schools  were  opened  for  the  young,  while  the  course  of  religious 
instruction  was  graduated  for  the  different  ages  and  brought 
within  the  reach  of  the  feeblest  minds, 

*  Father  James  Fremin,  whom  we  find  among  the  Iroquois  in  1656,  was 
employed  there  many  years,  and  died  at  Quebec  in  1692. 

Father  James  Bruyas,  born  apparently  at  Lyons,  arrived  at  Quebec  in 
1666,  and  in  the  following  year  visited  the  Iroquois  country.  He  was  alive 
in  1703. 

Father  Julian  Gamier,  born  at  Connerai,  in  the  diocese  of  Mans,  nbotit 
1643,  arrived  in  Canada  in  1662,  being  still  a  Bcholastic.  He  was  ordained  in 
1666,  and  was  yet  alive  in  1722. 

Father  Stephen  de  Carheil  arrived  from  Franco  in  1650,  and  remained 
among  the  Cayugas  till  1684,  and  was  then  sent  to  the  Ottawa  mission.  He 
died  at  Quebec  in  1726. 

Father  Francis  Boniface  died  at  Qticbec  in  1674. 

According  tc  a  printed  list  of  Canadian  clergy.  Father  Louis  Nicolas 
arrived  in  1656,  and  died  in  168^.  Father  Thierry  Beschefer  arrived  in 
1686,  and  died  in  1691,  but  the  Jesuit  Journal,  which  is  conclusive  on  tha 
point,  makes  the  former  arrive  in  1664  and  the  latter  in  1665. 

Father  Milet  arrived  in  1667,  was  a  prisoner  at  Oneida  from  1689  to  1694, 
aad  died  in  1711. 


' 


«  THE  WITED  STATES. 


Still  it  was  onlv  .     •      .  -"""s-  33,, 

'"-  or  ope,:'  rrrt.?;r "  "-■«'■  '■»<- «"  ^^p. 

""O  ">  that  disregard  of  mo,X  1  f "''° '"  "'"'^  ""'•'try 
overcome.  TJ,e  virtue  of «:  c  ^'^f  «»«'o"city  aI„„o  ea' 
to  tile  greatest  perils  amid  the  "'  >ncessa„tly  exposed 

*.ed  more  frightfa,  by  a    awT'™"""  "'  ""'  "«»g^^  «- 
Dutch  supplied.     The  neo^hy  es  "r   '"""""''  "■^—  «hio;  t  "e 
«-tio„s  iu  their  own  fJ^^'J^^f^  '«'.  «oo.  cruel  pe  ! 
"»'s  aud  dangerous  temptatl!    ",""'""  ""='»  fro™  these 
found  a  Keductiou  in  Can' d        1,  "'"'""■'"^»  '-"'^^d  t 
composing  it  entirely  of  cS-   ^f  ""^  P'o'^^tion  of  Franc  " 

f "  Baffeix  built  the  church  ofs!' 7' *'-"-'.  ^^  Father 
A  pious  s,jua,v  of  the  Erie  natiot^  t,  l"""^""  ^^'''"-  d™  Pro, 
Oneidas,  and  whose  name  :cl    .'''"'"""  ^"^'^^^  ^y  the 
fet,  to  settle  there  with  I     fa^,  r""  fT"*™"' ™  «- 
Indians  around  her  that  in  u7o2'  'n      *'  "'"^  ^  ">«"/ 
f»"hc.  comprising  sixty  person!     tk'"^*^  '"""^"^^  '-enty 
;«.veiy  ministered  among  trMolI  I  T™"^'  "   ^  ™- 
Father  James  de  Lambervme  Fa^^ *"*'  *"■"  '«'«  '°   1681 
'«  de  Gueslis,  favored  t],     !'  "^  ^'"'"'^  ""^  Father  \-,i  ' 

»^  when  al,  the  Chrtl     ^^^  '*, ""  '"eir  powe^:  1" 

good  Indians  led  to  a  change  of  L  ;  I  '"""''™  "f  these 
'"ds  at  I,a  Prairie  not  being  I' "T  ""  "'"''"«"<'»'  ">« 
— ____ga<Iapt«l  to  support  so  «a„^.  „„j 

*  r'„ii-       „  "^ — 


*  Father  Peter  Raff  •  " ~~ — ■ 

;f'"a:iS53™£-~  ■■"■ 

.^Father  Vaillan,  Jo  o„e„;        .  '  °       """' '"  "'«  W^bcc 


326 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


If!  1 411 

Is'  '•'I 


ill  1676  the  mission  was  transported  some  leagues  up  tlic  St, 
Lawi-encc  to  Sault  St.  Louis,  or  Caugliuawaga,  where  the  ehureli 
of  St.  Francis  Xavier  du  Sault  was  built  by  the  Iroquois.  Even 
now  the  village  is  occupied  exclusively  by  the  descendants  of 
these  Indians,  who  adhere  inviolably  to  the  faith  of  their  pilgrim 
sires,  transmitted,  without  interruption,  for  near  two  hundred 
years. 

The  admirable  fervor  of  the  first  converts  was  a  subject  of  edi- 
fication for  the  missionaries  themselves ;  and  the  example  of 
Catharine  Tehgahwita  proves  what  faith  can  do  to  elevate  a  sav- 
age nature  to  an  eminent  degree  of  sanctity.  This  maiden,  born 
in  1656,  and  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  four,  felt  from  child- 
liood  a  strong  attachment  to  Catholicity,  and  even  before  receiv- 
ing baptism,  had  made  an  offering  of  her  virginity  to  God.  All 
the  persecutions  of  her  relatives  to  force  her  to  renounce  her 
generous  design  fell  harmless  before  her  stern  resolution ;  she 
received  holy  baptism  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  then,  in  or- 
der to  give  herself  entirely  to  the  exercise  of  her  i)iety,  she  emi- 
grated, in  1611,  to  the  Reduction  of  Sault  St.  Louis,  in  Canada  ; 
there  she  lived  three  years  in  austerity  and  the  practice  of  the 
most  sublime  virtues,  and  died  in  1600,  leaving  a  memory  which 
is  still  in  veneration,  not  only  among  her  tribe,  but  throughout 
Canada.  We  find  in  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes  et  Curieuses"  a 
sketch  of  the  life  of  this  Christian  virgin,  abridged  by  Father 
Cholenec  from  a  still  existing  manuscript  life  composed  by  her 
confessor.  Father  Chauchetiere.  Father  Cholenec  relates  the  pil- 
grimages which  were  made  at  her  tomb,  and  the  miraculous 
cures  obtained  by  her  intercession,  and  gives  at  length  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Rev.  Mr.  de  la  Colombiere,  Canon  of  Quebec,  and  of 
Captain  du  Lud,  Governor  of  Fort  Froutenac,  both  cured  by  the 
invocation  of  the  venerable  Catharine.  Many  other  graces  obtained 
by  her  intercession  have  long  made  the  Canadians  desire  to  see 
the  process  of  her  beatification  begun. 


JN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


327 


It  is  the  first  time  that  we  have  had  occasion  to  cite 
the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  and  in  fact  tliat  precious  collection, 
begun  by  Father  Charles  Legobien  in  1704,  and  continued  after 
him  by  Father  J.  13.  dii  Ilalde,  speaks  only  incidentally  of  the 
missions  of  the  seventeenth  century.  These  last,  so  far  as  North 
America  is  concerned,  are  ''ecounted  in  the  rare  collection  of 
"  Jesuit  Relations,"  a  series  of  forty  volumes,  giving  the  history 
of  the  French  missions  in  Canada  for  the  years  IGll,  1626,  and 
from  1632  to  1672.  But  it  is,  so  to  speak,  impossible  to  obtain 
these  Relations,  and  the  years  1654-5  and  1658-9  are  not  known 
to  exist.*  It  seems  that  the  government  in  Canada  took  offence 
at  the  narrative  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  suppressed  in  France 
the  volumes  already  published,  forbidding  their  further  impres- 
sion. However,  the  Relations  for  the  years  1673  to  1679  still 
exist  in  manuscript  at  Rome  or  in  Canada,  and  Shea,  who  care- 
fully studied  the  whole  collection,  has  ably  selected  all  the  im- 
portant facts  in  his  admirable  "  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions 
among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States."  The  present 
Canadian  government,  more  enlightened  than  its  predecessor  in 
1672,  has  recently  voted  funds  to  reprint  the  complete  series  of 
the  Relations.  This  will  be  an  eminent  service  rendered  to  the 
cause  of  history  and  religion. 

—  -—■-—-         -.1    -  ■■—-■— .I.    ,.i  ■  I       ■    ■  -  ■■  ..— ■  ^1  --  ■    I      ^ 

*  A  learned  bibliophile  of  New  York,  James  Lenox,  Esq.,  has  enriched 
hia  collection  with  those  two  rare  volumes.  Ho  has  also  had  the  happy  idea 
of  reprinting  a  small  edition  of  the  Relations  of  1655-7(5,  and  of  the  Rela- 
tion of  Father  Gabriel  Druillettes  to  New  England  in  1650,  and  the  Relation 
of  the  Travels  and  Liscoveries  of  Father  James  Marquette  during  1673  and 
the  following  years.  By  a  refinement  of  typographic  exactitude,  Mr.  Lenox 
has  made  these  editions  a  complete  reproduction  of  the  originals  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  Ho  has  had  type,  head,  and  tail-pieces,  so  that  the  vol- 
umes due  to  his  taste  seem  to  the  most  practised  eye  to  have  been  printed 
two  centuries  ago.     It  is,  as  Boileau  says, 

"  Aux  Saumaises  futurs  preparer  des  tortures." 
The  gentleman  who  thus  devotes  his  taste  to  the  reproduction  of  the  Jesuit 
Eolations  is  not  prompted,  as  some  imagine,  by  religious  feelings,  being  a  de- 
voted Presbyterian,  but  by  a  wish  to  preserve  what  is  rare  and  valuable  in 
an  historical  point  of  view. 


328 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ill 

I 
'ill 


a 


ill 


While  emigration  to  Canada  led  to  the  close  of  the  missioi 
in  the  Mohawk  territory,  causes  of  a  different  character  put  an 
end  to  the  labors  of  the  Jesuits  among  the  other  Iroquois  can- 
tons. As  long  as  the  Dutch  remained  in  possession  of  New 
Netherland,  they  merely  traded  with  the  Five  Nations,  without 
pretending  to  obtain  of  them  any  act  of  submission  and  sun  en  • 
der  of  their  independence ;  but  on  the  capture  of  New  York  by 
the  English  in  1664,  and  especially  on  the  arrival  of  Colonel 
Thomas  Dongan  as  governor  of  that  colony  in  1G83,  a  far  differ- 
ent policy  presided  over  the  intercourse  between  the  English 
and  the  Iroquois.  Dongan,  considering  their  territory  as  form- 
ing part  of  the  territory  of  New  York,  declared  himself  the 
protector  of  the  Five  Nations,  and  displayed  remarkable  ability 
in  ruining  the  French  influence  in  the  council  of  the  Iroquois 
league.  The  governor  directed  bis  efforts  especially  to  expel 
the  Canadian  missionaries,  and  to  inspire  the  Indians  with 
greater  confidence,  he  promised  to  send  them  English  Jesuits, 
and  build  them  churches  in  their  cantons.  These  intrigues  suc- 
ceeded with  the  simple  children  of  the  forest,  and  towards  the 
close  of  1683  Father  Milet  had  to  abandon  his  Oneida  mission, 
while  Father  Fremin,  Father  Pierron,  and  Father  Garnier  retired 
from  the  Senecas.  The  next }  'iar.  Father  de  Carheil,  after  being 
subjected  to  every  brutality,  was  driven  from  the  castles  of  the 
Cayugas,  and  there  remained  only  the  two  brothers  John  and 
James  de  Lamberville,  the  missionaries  at  Onondaga. 

These,  for  some  years  more,  baffled  all  Dongan's  threats  and 
the  resources  of  his  political  craft.  They  possessed  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Onondagas,  and  to  all  the  colonel's  injunctions  or- 
dering them  to  expel  the  French  Jesuits,  the  Onondagas  answered 
that  the  Fathers  did  no  injury.  But  what  England's  power 
could  not  effect,  became  the  consequence  of  the  crime  of  a 
French  governor.  In  1687,  Jacques  Rene,  Marruis  de  Denonville, 
who  commanded  in  Canada,  received  orders  from  France  to  send 


J 
c 


I-"*'  I'ilE   I'Nii.jj], 


ATis. 


529 


o™  »  certain  >,„„,i,„  „f  .         .       ,  "-■' 

I'ad  recourse  to  troachorv  M  l     '^  ,        "  '"  """■  "'»  governor 
«f  laftor  M„  do  r:!;^.'  ■"""'«'  '"-olf  of  the  ln.Z 

'roops  surrouaded  thorn  on  ovory    ",  .     'Tr"''«'^'  '^"^"'•''^<'. 
f  ""s  trap  wore  .out  to  FrlJi  a,  I  "'■"l      "  ""''"IW  v,-e,i„„' 
h-^-    At  tho  new,  of  this  eX       ^  P"'  '"  "'"""»  "'  tl-o  ..„|- 
;»  the  canton.  „f  the     ^r  rdTrl""  ™«  '"  "^  "4 
md  well-nigh  paid  with  hit    k  °„""'/°''"  *  ^"'"''"vlile 
'«•.    The  sachems,  however  kewto        „  "'*''  '"'  ^'«  g""'" 
•--onary  to   suspect  hi,„' 0":  7/"'"  ""  "°='''-^  "^  "-i^ 
«.^.t,  warning  hin,  that  th;     „fd     If      ^"^^  f''-'^"    i"'' 
«f  the  young  brave.,  when  once  hevl    r^''  '"'  ""  '""'^^^ 
'"'i-rging  hi„  not  ,0  delay     sV         ""'^^  *''•'  """""g. 
™«--on  begun  twen.y  years  blfi,,.        '  ""'  ""^  ""''  «'»'«  "f  the 

During  the  war,  IJT  *'  '"  '««'•* 
;-"^  Breslani,  l^  ;.   ^Ttt  '"'^"  ^"^'  -'  "'^o  %- 
-  -vera,  ,ea.  w.Jl  deuLd  a.JnTM"'^  ^"'l''-' -'I 
fans,  who  had  emigrated  to  rl   ,      i   "•    ^^'  ^'■"V^"'"  Chris- 
"■ '-  Of  France,  and  IoZT^YT'  """"'^  f"'"-"'' 
I'^g-s  of  that  period.    But  , hi       7     "'"'^  '"  »"  "«=  '=-"'- 
''^Y  °^"'--  P-gan  countrttn       T't^^-P""  *™  'ho 
-de  prisoners,  thfy  were  sC  e'/"'  T'^  ^'"-tians  were 
Some,  too,  not  taken  in  arms  ZTl  "™'^"**  '"'■t"''^''. 
_____^«the  same  fate  for  refusing  to 


*  n. 


330 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I* ' 

k 

I 


1 1 


abuse  Christianity.  Tho  moat  courageous  of  those  martyrs  were 
Stephen  de  (lanoiiakoa  and  Frances  Oonouhatenha,  wliose  con- 
stancy in  the  faith  of  their  baptism  drew  upon  them  a  truly  hor- 
rible troatmcnt.  These  generous  neophytes  confessed  Jesus  cru- 
cified at  the  stake,  while  the  savages  tore  out  their  nails,  and 
roasted  or  slashed  their  bodies ;  and  to  every  question  wliich 
their  executioners  addressed  them,  they  answered,  to  their  latest 
sigh,  "  We  are  Christians."  All  the  tribes  did  not,  however, 
share  this  sanguiiuiry  rage,  and  many  of  the  Iroquois  desired  to 
see  the  missionaries  return  amongst  them.  On  the  peace  of 
Kyswick  in  1G97,  the  Jesuits  hoped  to  restore  their  missions,  in 
spite  of  the  intrigues  of  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  Governor  of  New 
York,  who  sent  the  Dutch  pastor  Dellius  to  preach  to  the  Mo- 
hawks. The  minister  failed  completely,  and  did  not  even  take 
up  his  residence  among  the  tribe  whom  he  was  commissioned  to 
convert.  The  governor  employed  all  means  to  keep  up  the  Iro- 
quois hostilities  against  Canada,  in  spite  of  the  treaty  signed  in 
Europe.  Maugre  his  eftbrts,  the  Five  Nations  concluded  a  sep- 
arate peace  with  Canada  in  IVOI.  Fathers  James  de  Lamber- 
ville,  Julian  Garnier,  and  Vaillant  du  Gueslis,  with  a  lay  brother, 
all  old  Iroquois  missionaiies,  immediately  started  from  Quebec  to 
raise  their  fallen  altars  amid  the  Senecas  and  Onondagas.  Dep- 
utations of  these  tribes  had  called  for  the  Jesuits,  and  soon  after 
Fathers  James  d'Heu  and  Peter  Mareuil  joined  their  comrades 
in  New  York.* 

Father  Lamberville  was  escorted  to  Onondaga  by  the  Sieur  de 
Marecourt,  a  man  of  great  popularity  among  the  Indians,  and 
was  well  received,  only  one  family  opposing  him.    The  English 


*  Father  James  d'Heu  arrived  from  France  in  1706,  and  was  unfortunately 
droivned  in  172S  (Quebec  list).  However,  he  was  Superior  ut  Montreal  iu 
1729. 

Father  Peter  Mareuil  arrived  in  1706,  died  in  1747,  according  to  the  list 
of  Quebec ;  but  ho  died  really  at  the  College  of  Louis  le  Grand,  at  Paris,  in 
1742,  as  Charlevoix  assures  us. 


'"  '"'"   ''•^■"•'^1'  STATES, 
governor  Jiad  q,.  j       ,  "^dl 

P>'l'"on  of  tl.o  envoy,  of  C,.  i  T       '"'"'J''^''  »  rl.-'n»  for  the  ex 

o   ;as.e„  to  Ji„„t„„,  ,„  eo^  wt,  V     .'       ■""^■■"■"-■villo 
o    tf.e  feats  of  Father  Mareuill""      """?"'  "-"  «"*..? 
Hlaff"  the  chapel  and  ,nissi„„    !  ^     T°  '^■•""'"=''  I"*»™  to 
l-y  «;;«•     0„  this,  Fathe  I  ^n  ■'";'  """  '°  "^--y  "- 
"e-y  I.fe  to  Sehnyler,  a,freed    1       '         '"'«  """  ^e  owed  his 
"■•oto  to  Father  d'II„^'s,      ''"=™V""r  i™  to  Albany  ." 

•"'■■'y  of  the  statesn,::;';'::;'  V"""' '""  '--f"-"-^ 

"an  of  great  influenee  with  the  1.  "'  ''°"''"'  »  "'•»<>■- 

We,  and  brought  Father  d'Zf^ri  ^r™'"'  ^°^  "°'«"oo 

d'ans,  and  though  he  esonnM  ""''o"  ""»»»  the  In- 

-o«  badfaiie:,  be  ,;:r:;t': '•:■''•  "■'■"«  "^^  ^^^  - 

oecuped  by  the  Five  NaUol  1^  t         '"  "'"  ""-oie  terri.ory 
''"trance  to  the  eantons  on  th    ,,"     „  ""  ^^^''^'^'^  '-'losed  the 

^»'  -e  shall  tind  in   iTsZTT"-'- °' ^■'''"''^■ 
■■^■;"">e  the  work  of  the  Jesuit    L,     '""'''"•  ''''""'^  Pioqnet, 
-iony  of  Ne,v  Vork  ,1.  lied;,:,  .  "7;,;;'  '"-■  "ithi„\be' 

^  t'^0  r^'-esentatioiL     But 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUllCII 


a    I. 


i 


•1 

n 

1*11 

M 


>l 


I  I 


thft  liifitory  of  this  zealous  nmn  will  be  given  licntnftor.  Tlio 
Apostulato  of  the  Jcsiiits  hogaii  with  KutlaT  Jogucs  in  1042,  wan 
carriiMl  on  at  intervals  for  over  sixty  years,  and  was  arrested,  not 
by  tli(*  persecution  of  the  idolaters,  but  by  the  ititoKjrancc  of 
]'rotcstantiHni,  which  would  not  suft'er  the  children  of  Loyola  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  task  of  transforming  the  savages  into 
Christians.  The  blood  of  the  martyr  and  the  suffering  of  the 
confessor  had  not  been  useless,  and  now  two  thousand  live  hun- 
dred Iroquois  at  Caughnawaga,  St.  Regis,  and  at  the  Lake  of 
the  Two  ^^)llntains,  still  practise  Catholicity,  and  preserve  tlio 
name  of  their  sires,  while  many  other  tribes  have  disappeared 
forever,  destroyed  by  debauchery  and  war,  or  absorbed  in  the 
swelling  tide  of  white  immigration. 

It  may  be  asked  how  the  missionaries  proceeded  in  converting 
these  savage  tribes?  In  his  intwi  sting  Relation,  Father  Bressani 
answers  this  question.  He  gives  in  some  sort  the  method 
which  succeeded  best  among  the  Ilurons,  and  which  was  most 
probably  employed  among  the  Iroquois : 

"  We  advance  the  motives  of  credibility  usually  assigned  by 
theologians ;  those  which  answer  best  are  these  three  :  The 
first  is  the  conformity  of  our  law  and  the  commandments  of 
God  with  the  light  of  reason.  The  faith  forbids  nothing  that 
reason  does  not  equally,  and  all  that  faith  commands  is  approved 
by  reason.  .  .  .  Our  Indians  understand  and  discuss  well ; 
they  yield  frankly  to  sound  reasoning.  The  second  argument 
was  our  writings ;  I  allude  not  merely  to  the  Holy  Scripture, 
but  to  ordinary  writings.  By  this  argument  we  silenced  their 
false  prophets,  or  rather  charlatans.  They  have  neither  books 
nor  writings  of  any  kind.  When,  therefore,  they  told  us  their 
fables  of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  the  deluge,  of  which  they 
have  some  confused  ideas,  and  of  the  spii'it-land,  wo  asked  them, 
*  Who  told  you  this  ?'  they  replied,  '  Our  ancestors.'  '  But,' 
retorted  we,  '  your  ancestors  were  men  like  yourselves,  liars  like 


Tim 


^^  THfi   UNITED  STATES. 


JO",  ulio  often  ovn  '  ^33 

'"  'io  saccd  book,  dictated       r       '  "°  ''""^""J  "'«>•  -vritten 

™:''""""''"rtfe»«a„.ativo„f  In    •  "'"'  ""''  '"'*'">  H'o 

P--«  of  ia.|i  prep.,,,,  ,„,  ;•  '     f;";o  Ju.te,„e„t  ,„j  „f  .,; 

tre,„U,„g,  as  i^  tie  Acts  J       ,'  "^  """"  ''"''  (i'ar  and 
Feli.  ^"'^  w»  read  ,t  m,cd  the  „„j„»t  j",;^ 

^^t  the  most  poworfnl  o 
;-  Po-n.    I„  ^  J*    -S;-"'  was  that  drawn  fron,  „,. 
»"«  .n  the  least  his  profound  ,,,T'"  T*'  -''».  -thou 
'"«,  as  though  it  were  of  anoth  ,  '''  '"'"^"^  '"  "'«  Corinthi 

fors  undergone  in  the  Z^^  "?'  ""^ '''»  ™ff-in^  and  1    ; 
"on^  and  miraculous  gifts  ,    ?      ,'*°  ^'"■<''  "»"  oven  the  revel., 
P-C'  hi.  Gospel  to  tT    ,  ;;'°;f  '>'f"»  -'-'.ad  sent     .^ C 
our  Indians."*  "'"•  *^  ""i  "»'  J'ositate  to  speak  thul  ,o 

^Ve  have  inserted  thi^  ;  * 
f-oid  of  interest  to  sue  .  o  trT^  "*'   >^'"-*   -nnot    •. 


I 


*  Bressani,  Brove  Eelatioiae. 


334: 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


M 


i     'I, 


PROVINCE    OF    NEW   YORK (1640-1760.) 

The  Dutch— The  English  occupation  and  Governor  Dongan— First  Colonial  Assembly 
in  1688— Jesuits  at  New  York- Revolution,  and  persecution  of  the  Catholics — Pre- 
tended negro  plot,  and  execution  of  the  Rev.  John  Ury. 

While  the  interior  of  New  York  was  visited  with  so  much 
perseverance  by  the  noissionaries,  the  cities  long  remained  closed 
to  their  preaching.  The  Dutch  were  zealous  Calvinists,  and  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  "  Liberties  and  Exemptions"  of  the  colony, 
was  impliedly  confirmed  what  was  formally  expressed  in  the 
amended  charter  of  1640 :  that  the  Protestant  religion,  as  set 
forth  by  the  synod  of  Dort,  should  be  maintained  by  the  Com- 
pany and  the  Director.  According  to  the  decrees  of  that  synod, 
no  other  religion  was  to  be  tolerated.  Yet  the  people  of  New 
Netherlands  did  not  evince  any  special  intolerance.  We  have 
seen  how  charitably  and  kindly  they  welcomed  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
Jogues  and  Bressani,  after  their  countrymen  at  Fort  Orange  had 
rescued  those  missionaries  from  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The 
ministers  themselves.  Dominie  Megapolensis  and  Bogardus,  set 
the  example  of  the  most  generous  cor  duct,  and  we  must  state  the 
fact  to  their  honor.  During  the  period  of  the  Dutch  rule,  the 
only  case  of  oppression  on  the  Catholics  was  the  prosecution  in 
1658  of  a  Frenchman  by  the  Sheriff"  of  Breuckelen  (Brooklyn), 
for  refusing  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Rev.  Dominie 
i^olhemus.  The  delinquent,  for  insolently  pleading  the  frivolous 
excuse  that  he  was  a  Catholic,  was  fined  twelve  guilders.  There 
was  in  this,  however,  no  persecution  of  the  Catholics  specially,  for 


^^  TBE  UmTEB  STATES. 


fT,.  ^^^iTJt'D  STATES 

t^e  same  day  an  En.lkhr..  ^35 

I*  W  true  thaf  fl.  ^  "°' 

Dominie  Me„«„  ■  ''^^    ''^''^  "ere  some  as  „. ,  "*  '""^  »»« 

P'»s  for  the  good  „fl^  ""o"?'"  »  office  J      ,  ^"*  "■« 
P"W«  good  mtt  o/^  ""'°°y'  -here  he  hid   ,  '""t""  ""  *» 

^"nfrast  with  r  ''°  Coveraor  Don„      .  ^  "'  "■  "■"ny 

>Mo;rLrif^  r'"--^»^^'edttf'  """ 
first  Ieffisi„ti„.  „        .""""''ted  for  tK„      ""  '« 'iem.    To 

»<i  govet  LTr^y.  "-^  -,o„^  h  vit  r"™"*-  °f  'he 

'-^■"ess  t    admi,  «'  ^-0  Pfea.„re  of   hf  'r  ""  "■-  ™'^<' 

^""t  which  the  "       '  '''"P'^  '»  «  ^iare  „(/""''  ^"^  "'is 


I    ! 


336 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


passed  October  30,  1683,  was  a  charter  of  liberties,  declaring 
that  "  no  person  or  persons,  which  profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus 
Christ,  shall  at  any  time  be  any  ways  molested,  punished,  dis- 
quieted, or  called  in  question  for  any  diflference  of  opinion  or 
matter  of  religious  concernment,  who  do  not  actually  disturb  the 
civil  peace  of  the  province ;  but  that  all  and  every  such  person 
or  persons  may,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times,  freely  have 
and  fully  enjoy  his  or  their  judgments  or  consciences,  in  matters 
of  religion,  throughout  all  the  province — they  behaving  them- 
selves peaceably  and  quietly,  and  not  using  this  liberty  to  licen- 
tiousness, nor  to  the  civil  injury  or  outward  disturbance  of 
others."  By  another  article,  all  denominations  then  in  the  prov- 
ince were  secured  the  free  exercise  of  their  discipline  and  forms, 
and  the  same  privilege  extended  to  such  as  might  come.  It  was 
only  by  favor  of  such  a  liberality  that  Colonel  Dongan  could 
hope  to  obtain  toleration  for  Catholicity ;  but  these  laws  making 
all  equal,  and  thus  harmonizing  with  the  avowed  doctrines  of 
Protestantism,  did  not  survive  the  Catholic  rule  which  had  pro- 
mulgated them.  The  New  York  Assembly  of  1691  declared 
null  and  void  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1683,  and  instead  of 
the  Charter  of  Liberties,  passed  a  Bill  of  Eights,  which  expressly 
excluded  Catholics  from  all  participation  in  the  privileges  which 
it  conferred.  It  had  been  the  same  in  Maryland,  where  Catholics 
had  first  proclaimed  religious  liberty,  and  where  the  Protestants, 
who  soon  gained  the  ascendency,  proscribed  the  Papists  and 
their  creed. 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chf^pior  that  Governor  Dongan 
used  every  effort  to  stop  the  French  Jesuit  mission-?,  in  order  to 
destroy  at  the  same  time  the  influence  which  France  possessed  in 
the  councils  of  the  Iroquois  league.  Such  hostility  in  time  of 
profound  peace  gave  rise  to  complaints  on  the  part  of  Louis  XIV., 
and  James  II.  ordered  his  representative  to  favor  the  enterprises 
of  the  Fathers,  instead  of  thwarting  them,  with  all  his  power. 


'"  ™^  ™'r^D  m'^rm. 


tJ-^  cantons  T^'    ?  "'^^^  <■»  Englisni  ^     '  ""*'»"«  "f 

i«»-.  «».hilated  !^  f  ''°''^^".  Mowed  b/  r„  ''^^^""O 
Nations.    Can-.'  „        "P*  "^  «»  aDn.t.i  ?        "'eWhrow  of 

°f  Je»"s,  tl«  ,?r"  "^  fi""  a  Ro„rc^  f  ™™g  the  RV« 

^°*  "t  iharc^'^;'-^  "^-■'^  -  wrr?'  "^^^^ 

ei'yfrom  1683  ,    ,  '""^.J^'ther  Thorn,    "^'^-'dcd  at  New 

>'»d,  a„d  ' '"  "««.  'hough  h  XaS;     '"^''"'^>  ^^ 

Father  He«„,"'    .    """'o  «  I7l9   .,  ,1  ^*"^ ''ent  back  to 

«» i-ia«t,7,r;T  7  '•"  ^-^-»  *»  z/  "'^"'^-^o- 

''"'her  Charles  e?       "«''  *"  «»<)  him  hM     ,'  """^  '''""^d 
These  relJ        ^  ""^  ^'^  in  «,„  „  ,  '"  Maryland  in  Jas* 

r -ay  judge  b;^Wr'''"''''''-'oo  „:;!"*  '0  °P««  a 
that  Coli  !)„„     "  .'"'^  formerly  „r„.j  !  "'°'^«™or  of  Boston 

f»'-,  and  Mntd^dt^^""^^^  ^-'^'^^'^^^^  "Po» 
hw  uoboddy  imi,;,         '  *''  contribute  their  .      7    "■"' '''"'«« 

years  later,  greatl„  ">''  '^^'h,  who  wr^ 

fe  ^ovorn'm^:     'irr-'ates  'he  oLZ^ZT  *^"  **' 

«»■  'he  Protestan,  °       '"'''*'"»  "=«  whole  Z  !     '  ^^^^  «» 

^  *  O'CaJIao-haii.  T^.»...  ~~ — _ 


'"•28.    Bayie^r,  Brief 
15 


-I 


ir 


338 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


settlers,  and  because  a  Latin-school  was  opened.  The  appoint- 
ment of  a  Catholic  as  collector  of  the  port  enabled  Jacob  Leisler, 
a  fanatical  and  ambitio  .  merchant,  to  create  some  excitement 
by  a  refusal  on  his  part  to  pay  the  duties  to  a  Catholic ;  and  for 
this  conduct  he  has  been  lauded,  even  in  our  day,  as  a  champion 
of  liberty  !  He  became  the  leader  of  those  who  refused  all  social 
intercourse  with  Catholics ;  and  when  the  news  arrived  of  the 
fall  of  James,  Nicholson,  the  Lieutenant-governor  of  Andross,  the 
successor  to  Dongan,  found  that  Leisler  was  plotting  to  seize 
him,  and  fled.  Leisler  immediately,  with  the  help  of  his  satel- 
lites, seized  the  government,  and  although  the  members  of  the 
council  sought  to  uphold  the  government  in  being,  they  were 
compelled  to  fly  to  Albany.  Every  means  was  now  resorted  to 
to  keep  alive  the  feeling  which  had  raised  him  to  pc-wer,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  read  without  a  blush  of  shame  the  numerous  docu- 
ments of  the  period  collected  in  the  Documentary  History  of  New 
York — depositions  of  men  that  they  had  seen  the  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor at  Mass ;  that  the  Papists  on  Staten  Island,  where  Dongan 
resided,  had  threatened  to  cut  the  tnroats  of  the  inhabitants  and 
burn  the  town ;  that  Mr.  de  la  Prairie  had  arms  in  his  house  for 
fiity  men,  and  that  a  priest  was  concealed  in  the  fort,  where  a 
good  part  of  the  garrison  consisted  of  Irish  Catholics. 

The  popular  hostility  excited  by  such  means  doubtless  drove 
from  New  .York  most  of  the  Catholics  who  had  settled  there 
during  the  reign  of  James  II.,  and  if  we  can  rely  on  the  census 
of  1696,  there  were  then  only  seven  Papists,  or,  at  most  seven 
Papist  families  in  New  York.  The  smallness  of  this  n  anber 
should  have  calmed  the  fears  of  the  Protestants,  but  it  was  not 
so,  and  in  1*700  an  act  was  passed,  of  which  the  following  was 
the  preamble :  "  Whereas,  divers  Jesuits,  Priests,  and  Popish 
missionaries  have,  of  late,  come,  and  for  some  time  have  had 
their  residence  in  the  remote  parts  of  this  province,  and  others  of 
his  majesty's  adjacent  colonies,  who,  by  their  wicked  and  subtle 


£ 
t 

n 


m  I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES 
insinuations,  indaaWously  labored  to  ,u,      , ' 
d'-aw  the  Indian,  from  aJ'T:  ^  t      "'''  *''"''=■  ^^  "if- 
Majest,,  and  to  e.ci.e  1       i/     ^'l  r".'"  '"  ""'  '"'='^'' 
open   hostility  .gainst  hi,  Mtl-?  "'°"  ■•"''^"■°"  »<1 

onaotingpartwaaa,  cruelas  thlTl    ^f"'"''""'"''"  *«•     The 
that  every  priest  connng  '„  J  Z  "  '™  '■''''°-     I'  ''""^-'^i 

vember,  I700,  or  re„aini  1  af,;  ^7.°"  *'  ""^  '''^'  "^  ^O' 
««d  aecounted  an  incendiary  l^  ,       ^  """"'  "^  "  ""^""-^ 
and  safety,  and  an  e„e™y  t  Th    "  ^*"  "'  *"  P""'"  P-e 
■».  adjudged  to  sufi-er  porpetu,  "  1?™"'°  ■■^'«'™' ='■«' ^Wl 
r™  ^"^  ■«-  -taken,  tCp LX TT'"''    "  '^  »'*« 
that  harbored  a  priest  was  madeTabfe  to    «    ""■'  ^"^  ""^  ™^ 
and  to  stand  three  days  on  Z^^         '/'"'  "' '^"">  «"^"ing, 
tl>o peopleof  New  Yo'i tos,   e^h   ^         "  '"'  ''°"^™'  '^ 
apparently  by  earlier  legislattn  !f  w     T^'^^'y  ^'='' '"^Pi'ed 
-yeot,  „.,  4e  wort  oft  I   io^";^,"^'"""  ™  ""^  '-« 
governor,  and  was  so  oppo  ed  b  '  Th  "'  ^^"^'»»''  'i'- 

tt-ugh  his  Council  only'y  It"^,,  ;  "T  "■^'  ''^  S<"  '' 

»f  votmg.    The  .e«  year  Q^TmT       'T  '™"'"'^>  "■^' 
»-ence  to  all  the  iuhabi  Jta  o7  New f,  ''  """'^y  <>(  con- 
Such  intolerance,  it  i,  evident  tiff      ^^'  '"'■''""  '--i"« 
-■".gration,  and  the  few  o   the  &  Jr  b      """^  ^"  C""""- 
subjected  to  „any  (rial,    ao  *!  ''*"  '"»*'*<•  "'«■•«  were 

-;;i^,  any  calaJty  to^rr^^tdr  ™  ^"^  '» 
t'a  hohcs,  and  in  the  absence  of  „,  7  !  ^  "^^  """"selves 
-•"0  to  fulfil  the  duties  0^^^^^'  "^"-''  *'  «s  i,np„s. 

---eene„ve„e4::rr^- 


n> 


I'!'' I 


»?  i! 


J   I 
m  ! 


I 


fill 


'i.  ? 


im  t 


840 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Dutch  in  numbers  and  influence,  is  the  execution  of  the 
unfortunate  John  Ury,  against  v/hom  the  popular  hate  was 
excited,  in  consequence  of  the  behef  that  he  was  a  Catholic 
priest.  In  the  early  part  of  1741,  the  city  of  New  York,  which 
then  contained  20,000  inhabitants,  was  seized  with  one  of  those 
inexplicable  panics  to  which  assemblages  of  men  are  more  sub- 
ject than  individuals.  A  rumor,  arising  out  of  a  number  of  fires 
in  different  parts  of  the  town,  accused  the  negroes  of  a  plot  to 
burn  the  city  and  massacre  the  inhabitants.  On  this  groundless 
suspicion  the  whole  people  were  thrown  into  the  great  st  alarm. 
The  lieutenant-governor,  George  Clarke,  who,  in  his  dispatch 
of  the  2 2d  of  April,  ascribes  the  fire  in  the  fort  to  an  accident, 
which  he  fully  explains,  by  the  15th  of  May  had  discovered  a 
horrid  conspiracy  and  plot,*  in  consequence  of  which  he  offered 
a  reward  of  a  hundred  pounds  sterling  and  a  free  pardon  to  any 
white  person  who  would  reveal  the  authors  of  the  plot,  and  then 
an  indented  servant,  named  Mary  Burton,  came  forward  to 
accuse  a  number  of  persons  of  being  concerned  in  the  conspiracy. 
The  prosecutions  were  instituted  with  a  disgusting  thirst  for 
blood,  and  carried  on  without  throwing  any  hght  on  the  mystery 
which  they  sought  to  unveil.  Three  months  passed  in  illusory 
interrogatories,  and  three  persons  had  been  hung  as  authors  of 
the  plot,  when  on  the  19th  of  June  the  lieutenant-governor,  as 
deluded  as  the  worst,f  took  it  into  his  head  to  oflfer  pardon  to  all 
who  should  confess  before  the  first  of  July.  "  The  po  r  negroes," 
says  an  impartial  reporter,  "  being  extremely  terrified,  were  anx- 
ious to  take  the  only  avenue  of  safety  that  was  offered,  and  each 
strove  to  tell  a  story  as  ingenious  and  horrible  as  he  could  man- 
ufacture. The  terrible  cry  of  Popery  was  now  raised,  which 
struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  all,  and  led  to  the  sacrifice  of  an 
amiable  and  interesting  clergyman,  of  whose  innocence  there  can 


*  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  vi.  186. 


t  Ibid.  vi. 


IN  THE  UNITED  OTATE3. 


341 


S    01 

.i 
.-1 

r,  as 

to  all 

I. 

oes," 

■,- 

anx- 

■^ 

each. 

nan- 

hich 

f  an 

# 

can 

scarcely  remain  a  doubt,  so  absurd  was  the  charge  against  him, 
and  so  feebly  was  it  supported."* 

It  was  now  that,  for  the  first  lime.  Mary  Burton  denounced 
John  Uiy.  This  man  was  arrested  as  a  Catholic  priest,  tried  as 
a  Catholic  priest,  condemned  and  executed  as  a  Catholic  priest, 
and  yet  to  this  day  a  mystery  so  complete  hangs  over  his  fate 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  say  whether  he  was  either  a 
CatholiO  or  a  priest.  Although  it  would  have  been  enough  for 
him  to  pi'ove  that  he  was  not  a  priest,  to  have  dissipated  the 
hatred  gathered  against  him,  and  thus  probably  escaped  an 
ignominious  death,  Ury  never  formally  denied  the  accusation, 
or  defended  himself  fi  yni  the  charge  of  being  a  Catholic.  Al- 
though uncertainty  rests*  on  his  real  character,  it  is  most  certain, 
however,  that  Ury  was  condemned  only  because  judge,  jury, 
counsel,  and  people  believed  him  an  ecclesiastic  of  the  dreaded 
Church  of  Rome ;  and  the  crime  of  intention,  if  not  of  fact,  rests 
with  full  force  on  the  fanatical  population  of  New  York  in  ''741. 

All  that  is  certainly  known'  of  Mr.  John  Ury  is,  that  he  was 
the  son  of  a  secretary  of  the  South  Sea  Comp'  .  According 
to  a  strange  journal  of  his  published  by  Hoi'semanden,  in  his  ac- 
count of  the  trial,  he  arrived  from  Europe  at  Philadelphia,  Feb- 
ruary, 1*739,  and  opened  a  little  school  in  New  Jersey,  and  then, 
in  November,  1*740,  came  to  reside  in  New  York.  Here  he 
taught,  and  baptized  some  children.  Several  witnesses  proved 
that  he  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  with  several  persons  to  cel- 
ebrate r^.  ^ious  ceremonies;  that  he  had  wafers  made,  and  a 
stand  in  the  form  of  an  altar  ;  that  he  preached  frequently,  and 
had  candles  lighted  in  the  daytime.  The  only  doubt  can  be, 
whether  Mr.  Ury  was  a  Catholic  priest  or  a  nonjuring  Angli- 


*  American  Criminal  Trials,  by  Peleg  W.  Chandler  (Boston,  1S44),  i.  222. 
See  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  v.  678.  "  At  first,"  says  Governor  Clarke,  on 
August  24:th,  "  we  thought  it  was  only  projected  by  Iluson  and  the  tiegroes, 
but  it  is  now  apparent  that  the  liand  of  Popery  is  in  it." 


I 


342 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ii! 


^;:i 


i^'" 


can  ;  but  in  an  able  dissertation  on  the  subject,  B.  U.  Campbell, 
Esq.,  proves  clearly  that  the  second  hypothesis  is  inadmissible, 
because   CJry  would  not  have  ..  iled,  in  that  case,  to  exculpate 
himself  from  the  charge  of  being  a  priest ;  while  under  the  for- 
mer hypothesis,  the  fear  of  compromising  the  few  Catholics  of 
New  York  would  compel  him,  on  his  trial,  to  be  silent  as  to  his 
priestly  character.     He  was  not  at  all  thought  of  in  connection 
with  the  plot  until  long  after  Huson's  execution,  when  an  ab- 
surd letter  of  General  Oglethorpe's,  declaring  that  Jesuits  in  the 
interest  of  the  Spaniards  were  in  all  the  towns,  filled  all  minds 
with  panic  fears  of  Jesuits  in  disguise ;  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  discover  one.     On  the  20th  of  June,  the  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor wrote  :  "  There  was  in  town,  some  time  ago,  a  man  who  is 
said  to  be  a  Romish  priest,  who  used  to  be  at  Huson's,  but  has 
disappeared  ever  since  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy,  and  is  not 
now  to  be  found."*     On  his  trial,  he  defended  himself  ably,  but 
saw  the  evident  impossibility  of  obtaining  a  just  hearing,  the 
fanatical  hatred  of  the  Catholic  religion  dtmanding  his  blood.f 
After  his  conviction,  Mr.  Ury  asked  a  short  reprieve,  to  enable 
him  to  prepare  for  death ;  and  on  its  expiration,  was  hung,  on 
the  29th  of  August,  1741.     Eleven  negroes  were  burnt  alive  at 
the  stake,  eighteen  hung,  and  fifty  transported  to  the  West  In- 
dies, in  expiation  of  this  pretended  plot ;  and  Mr.  Campbell  thus 
concludes  his  interesting  dissertation  on  the  most  innocent  of 
these  victims  of  a  popular  delusion  : 

"  The  melancholy  fate  of  the  Reverend  John  Ury  was  one  of 
peculiar  hardship.  Accused  of  an  infamous  crime,  without  coun- 
sel to  advise  or  defend  him,  he  was  tried  by  an  excited  tribunal, 
whose  strongest  prejudices  were  invoked  against  him,  on  account 
of  his  faith  and  religious  character ;  and  he  was  convicted  upon 


ll 


*  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  vi.  198. 

t  Seo  Horsemanden,  Account  of  the  Negro  Conspiracy. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


343 


at 
11- 


.  1 


of 


the  testimony  of  profligato  and  perjured  witnesses.  Doomed  to 
the  death  of  a  felon,  he  met  his  fate  with  manly  fortitude  and  a 
Christian  resignation.  As  lie  believed  that  his  sacerdotal  char- 
acter wiia  the  cause  of  his  condemnation,  it  would  have  been  a 
consolation  in  his  last  moments  to  have  declared  himself  a  Cath- 
olic priest.  But  r.o  such  an  acknowledgment  would  have  com- 
promised those  friends  who  had  shown  him  hospitality  and  kind- 
ness, his  sense  of  honor  and  gratitude  restrained  him  from  au 
avowal  that  would  have  conferred  upon  his  death  the  dignity  of 
martyrdom."* 

The  fearful  trial  of  which  ',ve  have  spoken  shows  that  in  1*741 
there  were  some  Catholics  m  New  York ;  but  they  scarcely 
durst  avow  it  to  each  other,  and  this  state  of  intimidation  lasted 
till  the  Revolutionary  War.  Father  Josiah  Greaton  was  the  only 
Catholic  priest  in  Philadelphia  in  1739,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Mr.  Ury  was  in  correspondence  with  him,  for  Judge  Horsemau- 
den  admits  that  the  dying  speech  of  the  priest  was  printed  at 
Philadelphia  by  his  friends,  soon  after  his  execution ;  but  this 
version  is  unfortunately  lost.f 

But  Ury  was  not  the  only  victim  to  hatred  of  Catholicity. 

Of  the  negroes  arrested  as  concerned  in  the  plot,  some  were 
Spanish  negroes,  taken  on  a  Spanish  vessel  in  time  of  war,  and 
sold  as  slaves,  instead  of  being  treated  as  prisoners,  for  they  were 
freed  men.  Mast,  however,  of  those  executed  were  negroes  raised 
in  the  colony  by  English  or  Duxch  families.  The  former  showed 
education,  talent — all  that  constitutes  a  man ;  the  latter  were 


)n 


*  Life  and  Times  of  the  Most  Rev.  Joiin  Carroll,  U.  S.  Catholic  'iagazino, 
vi,  38. 

+  The  only  authority  for  these  trials  is  Ilorsemanden's  book,  "  The  New 
York  Conspiracy,  or  a  History  of  the  Negro  Plot,  &c.,  New  York,  1744." 
Chandler,  already  cited,  pronounces  the  whole  a  delusion,  and  believes  that 
Mr.  Ury  was  not  a  priest,  but  a  nonjuring  minister.  Mr.  Campbell  con- 
cludes that  he  was  a  priest ;  Bishop  Bayley  expresses  no  opinion ;  and  Mr. 
Shea  adopts  Chandler's  view  of  the  matter. 


344 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUllCPI 


like  dumb  cuttle.  Unaided  by  a  lawyer — for  every  member  of 
the  bar  was  arrayed  against  them — the  Spanish  negroes  took  ob- 
jections which  certainly  would  have  woicfhed  with  any  but  a 
prejudiced  judge  ;  yet,  in  spite  of  all  tlicir  arguments  and  testi- 
mony, they  were  condemned.  The  New  York  negrocw  made  no 
attempt  at  defence,  and,  indeed,  were  incapable  of  any.  They 
made  any  accusation  or  admission  that  was  asked.  At  the  stake, 
the  diifennce  was  even  greater :  the  poor  native  negroes  were 
led  out  like  so  many  brutes,  unattended  by  any  clergyman,  with 
no  attempt  to  convert  them,  but  chained  to  the  stake,  and 
burned  amid  their  howls  of  despair.  The  conduct  of  the  Span- 
ish, and  consequently  Catholic  negroes,  was  striking  even  to  the 
savage  justice,  Horsemanden,  who  chronicles  the  plot.  Priest 
there  was  none  to  prepare  them  for  death ;  they  were  left  to 
themselves,  and  yet  a  few  brief  words  of  the  justice  speak  a  eu- 
logy on  the  Catholic  religion,  which  could  make  such  a  different 
result :  "  Juan  de  Sylva,  the  Spanish  negro  condemned  for  the 
conspiracy,  was  this  day  executed  according  to  sentence :  he  was 
neatly  dressed  in  a  white  shirt,  jacket,  drawers,  and  iitockings, 
behaved  decently,  prayed  in  Spanish,  kissed  a  crucifix,  insisting 
on  his  innocence  to  the  last."* 

*  Metropolitan  for  1856,  p.  270. 


1 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


3io 


I 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

»»TB   or  K.W   VO«K-(,„,.,„„,, 
Constitution  of  the  Stat  —Th 

«'T  W„,.;  b„t  ,!,o  city  of  No  To  ?    T^'  "'  ""=  K"™'"""- 

"""  wa,  the  tot  largo  town  '  t  T'  "■"  ^'•»"'''^'>  ««  ^0, 

On  the  3I.t  of  M,,y,  m^ZT'^f'  '^  ""^  ^""*  '«"P« 

P'"-Po»o  „t  Kingston,  on  the" 2  Im  ^T'""""'  »■=*  'or  thi» 

"■«»",  as  propoted,  ^.v     he  L  '  ""''  ""•     ™o  Consti- 

,  -^h  foreigners  as  eL^o  to  rt  i.tt  tl  "4  """"  "'  "»'"^"'-"ff 

■»ent  that  every  foreigner  shou  d    •   K^  '""''°*"  ""  ™  •™«"<'- 
log.a«e  and  subjeetion  to  a      "Iv    'T  ""'  ^""""'"'^  ^"  "l" 
te-tate,  and  State,  in  all  Itl  "'       '^  "'"="  ''"«' '"'"-.  I'o- 
»Pi'e  of  the  efforts  of  setenl T  ''T"""""'  '""^  ''"»  '"  »"<1  i" 
;"<".  Livingston,  the  Z^er:* t^t'lf"?  ^"^"  ^'  ''""'^ 
fo^gn  Catholie,  a  Lafayette,  Pul  si   D  tt"'"''     ^''"^  » 
oouW  not  become  a  citizen  of  tl,.  t  T'     .,   '''^'  "'■  Kosciusko, 
^';'-  of  things  lasted  ffl  1  89  wh       .f  """'  ''"'■'^ '  -«•  «" 
"f  «.e  U..i.«l  States,  reaiv^  'ote',;  2      T  '°^^™'"^"' 

,5°.  *^  """="''<"'  of  naturali- 


h'l 


III!*' 


346 


THE  CATIIOIilC  CIILIUCH 


zation,  HiiiHjIIccl  virtually  tlio  rcHcrvcs  aii<l  ivslrictions  contained 
in  tliti  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York.* 

TUi'  clause  relative  to  tlio  liberty  of  worship  was  thus  in  tho 
ConHtitution  as  proposed  :  "Frc'  toleration  of  religious  prufeswion 
and  worshij  ,hall  forever  hereafter  he  allowed  to  all  niaidviii<l." 
I'his  clause  canie  up  for  debate  on  the  20th  of  May,  and  ^^r.  J;iy 
did  not  fail  to  ofter  an  amendujent.  He  wished  to  tolerate  in 
the  State  the  presence  of  no  Catholic  who  did  not  deny  on  oath 
the  power  in  the  priesthood  of  remitting  sins.  This  restriction 
was  too  absurd  to  be  entertained  by  tlio  Convention ;  it  was 
withdrawing  with  one  hand  the  liberty  proti'ered  by  the  other ; 
but  Jay  craftily  drew  up  another,  to  exclude  Catholics ;  and  tho 
article  of  the  Constitution  was  adopted  with  his  anienduient,  in 
these  terms  :  "  Provided  that  the  liberty  of  conscienoe  hereby 
granted  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  excuse  acts  of  licentious- 
ness, or  justify  practices  inconsistent  with  the  peace  or  safety  of 
tho  State." 

These  acts,  and  like  ones  in  other  States,  to  which,  as  we  have 
seen.  Father  Fleming  alluded,  soon  after  the  close  of  tho  war, 
show  what  ignorance  of  our  history  has  led  to  the  assertions  that 
the  American  people  never  have,  since  their  birth  as  a  nation, 
performed  one  act  of  hostility  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  that 
their  first  act,  on  winning  their  independence,  was  to  repair  tho 
injustice  of  the  mother  country  towards  the  Church,  and  place 
Catholics,  in  their  religion,  on  a  footing  of  equahty  with  Protest- 
ants. England  tolerated  Catholicity  in  Canada,  but  the  new  re- 
publics refused  to  follow  the  step. 

But  while  the  l^ritish  government  favored  the  Catholics  in 
Canada,  it  prevented  all  public  exercise  of  their  worship  at  New 
York  during  its  possession  of  that  city.  Anglican  fanaticism 
was  displayed  in  an  especial  manner  in  1778.     In  February  of 


*  JouriKil  of  Provincial  Convention,  846. 


eA 


liavo 
war, 
that 
tion, 
that 
tho 
[ilaco 
itest- 
re- 

Is  in 

Tew 

kism 

of 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


847 


that  year,  a  largo  Frendi  man-of-war  was  taken  by  the  English 
in  Chcsapeako  liay,  and  l>rought  on  to  New  York  to  bo  con- 
demned. The  chaplain  of  tiiis  vessel  was  Mr.  l)e  la  Motte,  of 
tlio  Order  of  St.  Augustine ;  and,  like  the  oflicers,  ho  was  put 
on  parole,  and  allowed  to  visit  the  city  freely.  The  few  Catho- 
lics of  New  York  begged  Mr.  De  la  Motto  to  grant  (hem  the 
satisfaction  of  hearing  Mass ;  and  the  chaplain  solicito'^  permis- 
sion from  the  British  commaiKler,  but  received  a  peremptory  re- 
fusal. Whether  ho  misunderstood  the  reply,  or  resolved  to  dis- 
regard it,  Mr.  De  la  Motte  celebrated  the  holy  mysteries  rbr  the 
poor  people,  who  in  all  probability  assisted  for  the  first  time  in 
many  years.  But  the  chaplain  was  arrested  for  the  act,  and 
strictly  confined  in  prison  till  he  was  exchanged.* 

As  soon  as  tho  colonies  opened  negotiations  and  formed  ai 
alliance  with  France,  the  English  party  sought  to  identify  their 
cause  with  that  of  Protestantism,  and  to  excite  the  fanaticism  of 
the  populace  by  presenting  as  a  danger  for  the  Reformation, 
either  liberty  of  worship  or  the  French  alliance.  The  honors 
paid  by  Americans  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  army  of 
France  were  presented  as  religious  treasons;  and  we  read  in 
Rivington's  Royal  Gazette  of  December  11,  1*782:  "On  the 
4th  of  November  the  clergy  and  selectmen  of  Boston  paraded 
through  the  streets  after  a  crucifix,  and  joined  in  a  pit.  -.-  ^ion  for 
praying  a  departed  soul  outr  of  purgatory ;  and  for  this  tney  gave 
the  example  of  Congress  and  other  American  leaders  on  a  former 
occasion  at  Philadelphia,  some  of  whom,  in  the  iieight  of  their 
zeal,  even  went  so  far  as  to  sprinkle  themselves  with  what  they 


*  Greenleaf  8  History  of  the  Cburclies  of  New  York.  Bishop  Bayley, 
Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  p.  35.  The  prison  in  which  Mr.  De  la 
Motte  was  confined  was  the  Old  Sugar-house,  which,  but  a  few  years  since, 
was  standing  beside  the  Post-office,  in  Liberty-street.  The  church  now 
used  as  a  Post-office  was  used  by  the  English  troops  ns  a  rl<iing-school,  and 
for  a  time  as  a  hospital ;  and  the  confessor  of  the  faith  was  doubtless  con- 
fined here  also. 

11* 


348 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I:" 

I'm  1 


call  holy  water."*  General  Arnold,  who  endeavored  to  sell  his 
native  land  to  England,  had  also  been  scandalized  by  tlie  tolera- 
tion which  Catholics  were  beginning  to  enjoy;  and  if  we  may 
believe  the  celebrated  traitor,  his  conscience  did  not  permit  him 
to  remain  faithful  to  a  party  which  thus  sacrificed  the  essential 
interests  of  Protestantism.  In  his  address  to  the  inhabitants  of 
America,  Arnold  laments  that  the  great  interests  of  the  country 
"  were  dangerously  sacrificed  to  the  partial  views  of  a  proud,  an- 
cient, and  crafty  foe ;  regards  her  as  too  feeble  to  establish  their 
independence ;  charges  her  with  being  an  enemy  to  the  Protest- 
ant faith ;"  and  in  the  proclamation  to  the  ofiicers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Continental  army,  he  says  that  *'  he  wished  to  lead  a  chosen 
band  of  Americans  to  the  attainment  of  peace,  liberty,  and  safety, 
and  with  them  to  share  in  the  glory  of  rescuing  their  native 
country  from  the  grasping  hand  of  France,  as  well  as  from  the 
ambitious  and  interested  views  of  a  desperate  party  among  them- 
selves, who  had  already  brought  the  colonies  to  the  very  brink  of 
destruction."  Even  their  last  stake,  religion,  he  represented  to 
be  in  such  danger  as  to  have  no  other  security  than  what  de- 
pended upon  the  exertions  of  the  parent  country  for  deliverance. 
In  proof  or  illustration  he  asserted  a  fact  upon  his  own  know- 
ledge, viz.,  that  he  had  lately  seen  their  mean  and  profligate 
Congress  at  Mass  for  the  soul  of  a  Roman  Catholic  in  purgatory, 
and  participating  in  the  rites  of  a  Church,  against  whose  anti- 


*  Freneau's  poems,  p.  288.  This  republican  poet  cites  it  to  explain  the  four 
following  lines,  which  he  puts  into  Rivington's  mouth : 

"  If  the  greatest  among  them  submit  to  the  Pope, 
What  reason  have  I  for  indulgence  to  hope  ? 
If  the  Congress  themselves  to  the  chapel  did  pass, 
Ye  may  swear  that  poor  Jemmy  would  have  to  sing  Mass." 

Bivington  was  a  bookseller,  who  published  a  Tory  paper,  and  had  a  shop 
in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard.  He  kept  also  a  coffee-house,  much  frequented 
by  the  officers,  many  of  whom,  when  they  evacuated  the  city,  forgot  to  pay 
hire. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


349 


Christian  corruptions  their  pious  ancestors  would  have  witnessed 
in  their  blood.* 

The  English  army  evacuated  New  York  and  set  sail  for  Europe 
on  the  25th  of  Novf"iiber,  1783,  and  it  is  probable  that  Father 
Farmer,  who  had  organized  a  congregation  previous  to  the  war, 
and  who  still  resided  at  Philadelphia,  seized  the  first  opportunity 
to  revisit  his  little  flock  of  Catholics  at  New  York.'t-  The  part 
taken  by  France  had  rendered  the  clause  introduced  by  Jay  a 
nullity,  and  no  obstacle  existed  to  the  open  celebration  of  the 
Catholic  worship.  A  tradition  preserved  in  the  city  tells  us  that 
the  first  chapel  was  a  loft  over  a  carpenter'?  ^hop,  and  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, in  his  version  of  the  triidition,  states  that  service  was  actually 
performed  in  1781  or  1782.  This  must  have  been  outside  of  the 
city,  where  the  English  exercised  less  influence ;  but  it  seems 
very  doubtful.  Although  it  is  impossible  to  prove  Father  Far- 
mer's presence  in  New  York  in  1782,  it  is  beyond  all  doubt  that 
he  visited  the  city  in  the  following  year.  In  one  of  his  letters  he 
says  that  about  the  month  of  December,  1783,  he  spent  five  days 
at  Fishkill  among  the  Canadian  refugees,  in  order  to  revive  the 
faith  among  them  ;  and  the  missionary  could  scarcely  have  gone 
from  Philadelphia  to  Fishkill  without  passing  through  New  York. 
Father  Farmer's  mission  'comprised  New  York  and  New  Jersey  ; 
and  even  in  1785,  when  there  were  three  priests  in  New  York, 
Father  Fanner  directed  them  from  Philadelphia. 

The  restoration  of  peace  and  the  assembling  at  New  York  of 
the  foreign  ministers,  gave  the  Catholics  more  energy  and  cour- 
age. They  even  solicited  the  use  of  a  room  in  the  Exchange  for 
the  purposes  of  divine  worship,  and  though  the  authorities  re- 
jected the  petition,  heard  Mass  in  Water-street,  in  or  near  the 


*  Dodsley's  Annual  Register  for  1781,  p.  47,  cited  in  the  American  Celt, 
June  2,  1855. 

t  It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  date  of  his  visits  to  New  York,  and  of  tho89 
prior  to  the  war  we  have  only  vague  tradition. 


p 


1^: 


350 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


residences  of  Don  Thomas  Stoughton,  the  Spanish  consul,  Oi 
of  Don  Diego  de  Gardoqui,  the  minister  of  the  same  power,  who 
took  up  his  residence  in  New  York  in  1785,  when  it  became  the 
temporary  seat  of  the  Federal  government.  Hardie,  in  his  de- 
scription of  New  York,  also  speaks  of  the  halls  hired  by  the 
Catliolics  in  1784  and  1785  to  meet  on  Sunday  in  prayer;  and 
Oreenleaf  tells  us  that  prior  to  1786  they  used  as  a  church  "a 
building  erected  for  public  pui'poses  in  Vauxhall  Garden,  situate 
on  the  margin  of  the  North  Eiver."*  In  1785  an  act  of  incor- 
poration was  obtained  by  St.  Peter's  Church  from  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  early  in  1786  a  lot  was  purchased  in  Barclay- 
street  to  erect  the  first  Catholic  church  in  New  York.  On  the 
Feast  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  patron  of  his  Catholic  Majesty, 
the  Spanish  ambassador  iaid  the  corner-stone,  and  his  sovereign, 
Charles  III.,  allotted  a  considerable  sum  to  aid  in  erecting  the 
holy  temple.  The  French  consul,  Mr.  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur, 
was  also  one  of  its  chief  benefactors. 

At  this  epoch  Father  Farmer  continued  to  be  the  vicar  for 
New  York  of  Father  John  Carroll,  the  prefect-apostolic ;  but  he 
did  not  reside  there  permanently,  and  other  priests  actually 
settled  there  exercised  the  functions  of  the  ministry.  In  the 
mouth  of  October,  1784,  Father  Charles  'Whelan,  an  Irish  Fran- 
ciscan, arrived  at  New  York,  and  asked  Father  Farmer  to  be 
employed  as  a  missionary.  Father  Whelan  had  been  a  chaplain 
on  board  one  of  the  vessels  in  Admiral  de  Grasse's  fleet,  which 
was  defeated  by  Admiral  Rodney  on  the  12th  of  April,  1786, 
and  was  taken  prisoner  in  that  great  naval  battle.  After  revisit- 
ing Ireland  he  came  over  to  America  with  his  two  brothers, 
whom  he  induced  to  settle  there.  Father  Whelan  had  his  eccle- 
siastical recommendations  in  regular  form,  but  he  had  no  appro- 
bation from  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome,  and 


*  History  of  the  Churches  of  New  York,  p.  833. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


351 


at  that  period  the  apostolic-prefect  was  authorized  to  graiit  facul- 
ties only  to  such  as  were  seut  by  the  Propaganda.  This  restric- 
tion seemed  very  embarrassing  to  Father  John  Can'oll,  who  used 
every  endeavor  to  obtain  more  ample  faculties  from  Rome.  Yet 
the  measure  was  dictated  by  prudence ;  it  sheltered  the  United 
States  from  priestly  adventurers,  and  it  would  have  saved  Father 
Carroll  himself  many  trials  and  chagrins  if  he  had  not  solicited 
the  removal  of  a  restriction  really  beneficial  to  the  future  of  the 
Church.  Father  Whelan  accordingly  at  first  obtained  only 
power  to  say  Mass ;  but  availing  himself  of  the  powers  he  had 
in  Ireland,  he  proceeded  to  hear  confessions  and  celebrate  mar- 
riage. This  led  to  a  long  struggle  between  him  and  Father 
Farmer,  in  which  the  latter's  authority  was  not  always  respected. 
At  last,  in  the  month  of  July,  a  rescript  of  the  Propaganda  ar- 
rived, and  enabled  Father  Carroll  to  regulate  the  position  of 
Father  Whelan. 

But  scarcely  had  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  New  York  seemed 
to  be  restored  to  tranquillity,  when  new  troubles  arose  to  sadden 
it.  Towards  the  close  of  1*785,  a  second  Irish  Frauv^iscan,  Father 
Andrew  Nugent,  an-ived  at  New  York,  and  endeavored  to  force 
himself  on  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  As  he  was  a  better 
preacher  than  Father  Whelan,  the  laity  immediately  took  the 
preacher's  part,*  and  asked  Father  Farmer  to  withdraw  Father 
Whelan.  The  good  Jesuit  having  endeavored  to  pacify  them, 
the  trustees  threatened  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  to  obtain  a 
law  enabling  them  to  dismiss  a  clergyman,  when  they  became 


*  "  A  good  preacher,  alas !  is  all  that  some  want,  who  never  approach 
the  sacraments,"  wrote  Father  Farmer.  At  this  time,  the  Catholics  of  New 
York  took  steps  to  get  from  Ireland  Father  Jones,  a  Franciscan  at  Cork,  who 
was  called  a  "  great  preacher."  But  that  religious  did  not  yield  to  their 
entreaties.  "  The  diiferent  sectaries  have  scarce  any  other  test  to  judge  of  a 
clergyman,  than  his  talents  for  preaching,  and  our  Irish  congregations,  such 
as  New  York,  follow  the  same  rule,"  wrote  Father  Carroll,  on  the  15th  of 
December,  1785.    Campbell,  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  102. 


!  ( 


}i,.' 


f.'Si 


U 
\\>, 


852 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


dissatisfied  with  him.  All  attempts  at  conciliation  proved  nso- 
iess,  and  at  Christmac,  1*785,  the  trustees  decided  that  the  Sunday 
collectiou  should  no  longer  be  given  to  Father  Whelan.  This 
was  the  only  resource  of  the  missionary,  and  after  remaining  at 
his  post  till  the  12th  of  February,  1786,  he  resolved  to  leave 
New  York,  and  join  his  brother  at  Johnstown,  forty-five  miles 
from  Albany.  Father  Whelan  intended  to  return  at  Easter,  but 
affairs  were  not  arranged  in  the  interval,  and  the  prefect,  whose 
confidence  he  had  preserved,  empowered  him  to  found  a  mission 
in  Kentucky. 

By  the  retreat  of  Father  Whelan,  Father  Nugent's  party  tri- 
umphed, and  hoped  to  have  their  favorite  as  pastor.  The  latter, 
disregarding  his  want  of  regular  powers,  announced  that  he 
would  hear  confessions;  and  Father  Farmer,  announcing  this  im- 
prudent conduct  to  the  Very  Rev.  Mr,  Carroll,  formally  requested 
the  suspension  of  Father  Nugent.  But  it  seems  that  the  Prefect- 
apostolic  preferred  to  temporize,  for  fear  of  greater  scandals,  in 
case  the  pi-iest  openly  disowned  his  authority.  This  melancholy 
condition  of  affairs  continued  till  November,  1*787,  when  Father 
Carroll  committed  the  parish  of  New  York  to  Father  William 
O'Brien,  a  Dominican  Father  from  Dublin.  Father  Nugent  re- 
mained at  New  York,  though  without  exercising  the  ministry, 
and  Bishop  Bayley  found  on  the  minutes  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
tlxat  in  1790  the  trustees  made  a  collection  to  pay  the  passage  of 
their  ex-pastor,  who  embarked  for  France  in  the  Telemaque.* 

We  must  avow  that  nothing  is  more  sad  than  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Church  in  New  York.  Disobedient  priests,  rebel- 
lious a*  n  usurping  laymen  !  But  this  picture  should  serve  as  a 
Jessou  .0  American  Catholics,  as  Mr.  Campbell  justly  observes : 
*'  It  will  show  the  pernicious  tendency  of  the  trustee  system,  to  re- 
mark, that  at  the  period  of  this  presumptuous  interference  of  the 


*  Bayley,  Catholic  Church  in  New  York,  p.  49. 


i 


111 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


353 


ill, 
of 

X- 

k\- 
a 

fcs: 
Ire- 
Ihe 


trustees  of  the  Catholic  congregation  cf  New  York  with  the 
spiritual  government  of  the  Church,  they  were  not  in  possession 
of  an  edifice  of  their  own  in  which  to  perform  divine  worship, 
but  were  under  the  necessity  of  hiring  a  room  for  the  purpose."* 
Yet,  of  a  Catholic  population  of  one  hundred,  about  forty  ap- 
proached the  sacraments  ;  and,  to  maintain  the  devotion  of  this 
little  nucleus  of  the  faithful,  Father  Farmer  made  frequent  jour- 
neys to  New  York.     He  continued  these  periodical  visits  till 
shortly  before  his  death,  which  occuiTed  at  riiiladelphia  in  1786  ; 
and  after  him,  Father  O'Brien  succeeded  in  extending  piety  and 
pacifying  the  troubled  minds.     Thus,  amid  the  cockle,  the  good 
grain  showed  itself  at  New  York ;  and  in  spite  of  the  preten- 
sions and  exactions  of  the  trustees,  we  cannot  refuse  them  a  cer- 
tain merit  for  preserving  the  name  of  Catholics  amid  the  jarring 
sects  of  Protestantism,  and  for  having  built  the  first  church, 
wliich,  for  twenty-three  years,  was  the  only  shrine  of  the  faith  iu 
New  Y^ork.f     But  were  they  really  Catholics  ?     We  might  al- 
most doubt  it,  from  the  writings  of  the  best  known  of  them, 
Hector  St.  John  de  Crevecceur. 

This  personage,  born  at  Caen,  in  Normandy,  of  a  noble  family, 
in  1731,  probably  bore  the  name  of  St.  Jean  ;  and  his  long  stay 
in  England  and  America  doubtless  induced  him  to  adopt  that  of 
St.  John.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to  England,  and 
thence,  in  1754,  to  America,  wbere  he  displayed  great  energy  as 
a  pioneer.  But  wher  the  Revolution  broke  out,  he  lost  much  by 
the  ravages  of  the  tories  and  Indians.  Wishing  to  return  to 
Europe  in  1780,  he  obtained  a  safe-conduct  to  go  to  New  York, 
then  in  the  hands  of  the  English.    Y^'et  he  was  detained  ai,  a  pris- 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  i48. 

+  The  first  trustees  were  Hector  St.  John  de  Crevecceur,  Consul  of  France, 
Jose  Roiz  Silva,  J.  Stewart,  and  Henry  Duffy.  The  first  Mass  was  said  in 
Si.  Peter's  by  Father  Nugent,  November  4th,  1786.  The  sacristy,  portico, 
and  pewb  were  not  finished  till  1792. 


354: 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I 


oner  for  three  months,  and  having  reached  France  by  the  way  ol* 
Irehiud,  was  appointed,  by  the  Minister  of  the  Marine,  French 
Consul  at  New  York,  He  accoidinglj'  returned  to  that  city  on 
the  19th  of  November,  1783,  anl  his  first  care  wa&  to  call  upon 
Mr.  William  Seton,  the  fatlior-in-law  of  the  future  foundrtss  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charily  at  Emmetsburg.  Mr.  Setou  hnd  rendered 
great  service  to  Mr.  St.  John,  in  1780,  in  ijbtainint;-  liis  release 
from  prison,  a)id  the  hitter  now  sought  to  obtain  tidings  of  his 
wife  ana  cbiidron,  whom  he  had  loft  on  his  farm  ;  bui,  he  had 
the  afflic  don  to  learn  tli;)t  during  his  absence  his  wife  had  die  J, 
liis  house  been  burnt,  itri  ito  children  carried  off  by  the  Indians. 
His  children,  however,  carried  riually  to  Boston,  had  been  recov- 
ered by  Mr.  Setoa,  and  V'O  2  rcotoied  to  their  father's  arms. 
During  his  stay  abroad,  be  published  in  English  his  "  Letters  of 
an  Americaa  Farmer."'  of  which  he  issued  also  a  French  edition, 
dedicated  to  the  infamous  Abbe  Raynal.  In  this  book,  Mr.  St. 
John  shows  himself  an  adherent  of  the  philosopbic  school,  and 
profoundly  indifferen'  to  religion.  He  advances  this  religious  in- 
difference as  the  striking  point  of  the  American  character,  and 
pleasantly  details  its  advantages.  Such  were  the  sentiments  of 
the  preside  I  !,  of  the  trustees  of  the  ftrst  Catholic  church  in  New 
York  ;  and  we  need  not  wonder  if  the  body  shov/ed  itself  rebel- 
lious to  its  pastor.* 


*  Letters  of  an  Americau  Farmer,  written  to  a  friend  in  England,  by 
Hector  St.  John,  a  Farmer  in  Pennsylvania.  The  letters  are  addressed  to 
W.  S***n.,  Esq.  (William  Seton),  and  tho.  dedication  (dated  Albany,  May  17, 
17S1)  to  Gen('ral  Lafayette.  The  French  edition  is  edited  by  the  cider 
LacretcUe.  The  work  ran  through  several  editions,  and  was  much  en- 
larged, iiii  also  wrote  "Voyage  dans  la  Haute  Penusylvanie,"  Paris,  1801. 
The  Diction  ,iire  Ilistorique  de  Bouillet  transforms  him  into  "Sir  John  da 
Creveci-eur,  an  American  Economist."  He  returned  to  France  in  1793,  and 
iliad  in  1813. 


m 


IN  THE   UNITiJJ   STATES. 


355 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


STATE    AND    DIOCESE    OF    NEW    YOIIK (1787-1818.) 

Father  O'Brien  and  the  yelloVfover  in  Now  York— The  negro,  Peter  Toussaint — The 
Abb6  Sibourg — Fothers  Kohlmann  and  FenwJjk — Erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at 
Now  York— lit.  Kov.  Luke  Concanen,  first  bii<hop— His  death  at  Naples— Father 
Benedict  Fcnwick,  administrator— The  New  York  Literary  Institution — Father  Fen- 
wick  and  Thomas  Paine — Father  Kohiinann  and  tlie  secrecy  of  tho  confessional. 

The  rising  Cliurch  of  New  York,  so  vexed  for  some  years,  at 
last  fouud  rest  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Father  William 
O'Brien,  of  the  Oixler  of  St.  Dominic,  whom  the  prefect-apostolic, 
towards  the  close  of  the  year  1787,  sent  to  replace  Mr.  Nugent. 
Father  O'Brien  was  a  highly  zealous  and  intelligent  priest,  who 
knew  how  to  fulfil  his  duties  so  as  to  edify  his  flock  and  please 
his  ecclesiastical  superior.  Soon  after  becoming  pastor  of  St. 
Peter's  he  proceeded  to  Mexico,  in  order  to  solicit  aid  for  the 
completion  of  his  church,  and  seems  to  have  been  replaced  du- 
ring his  absence  by  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Rou''ke,  whose  name  ap- 
pears in  the  New  xork  City  Directory  from  1790  to  1792.* 
The  Archbishop  of  Mexico  at  this  time,  Don  Alonzo  Nunez  de 
Haro,  had  been  a  fellow-student  of  Father  O'Brien's  at  Bologna, 
in  Italy,  and  the  prelate  received  the  missionary  with  the  great- 
est cordiality.  Bishop  Bayley  found  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
ti'ustees  thiit  Fath  -  O'Brien  collected  in  Mexico  four  thousand 
nine  hundred  iv.\  twenty  uoHpi's;  and  that  he  brought  besides 
sevenJ  beaul  "  i  paintings,  with  which  he  adorned  his  church, 
and  a  noblo  donation  of  one  thousand  dollars  made  him  by  the 


*  Now  York  City  Directory  for  1791,  '2,  and  1702,  '8. 


is,^ 


856 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


f! 


III 


M 


Bishop  and  Chapter  of  Pucbla  do  los  Angclos,  that  happy  city 
which  holds  the  body  of  the  Blessed  Sebastian  do  la  Aparicion, 
the  only  beatified  servant  of  God  whose  body  reposes  in  Nortn 
America.  This  was  not  the  only  occasion  when  the  clergy  and 
Catholics  of  Mexico  have  displayed  their  generosity  to  their 
brethren  in  the  faith  in  the  United  States.  Some  years  since, 
the  lit.  Rev.  Magloire  Blanchet,  Bishop  of  Nesquely,  and  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Juhn  Timon,  Bishop  of  Buftalo,  snccessfully  appealed  to 
Mexican  charity  for  the  necessities  of  their  dioceses,  as  did  also 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  De  Luynes  and  Maldonado,  in  behalf  of  the 
college  of  their  Order  in  the  city  of  New  York.  These  are  facts 
which  should  remain  in  the  memory  of  the  faithful,  and  inspire 
lasting  gratitude  for  their  fellow  Catholics  of  Mexico. 

Father  O'Brien  displayed  all  the  qualities  of  a  good  pastor, 
whether  in  preaching  the  word  of  God  to  the  faithful,  or  in  visit- 
ing the  sick  during  the  ravages  of  the  yellow  fever,  which  tor  a 
time  yearly  desolated  New  York.  The  scourge  was  most  severe 
in  the  summers  of  1795  and  1798,  and  the  good  Father  multi- 
plied himself  so  as  to  leave  none  of  his  dear  parishioners  without 
religious  succor.*  Among  them  he  found  a  compassionate 
being,  ever  ready  to  devote  himself  to  the  care  of  the  sick,  in  the 
person  of  a  young  negro,  full  of  more  piety  and  virtue  than  Mrs. 
Stowe  could  pour  into  the  hero  of  her  tale.  But  it  was  not  in 
the  chill  of  Protestantism  that  Peter  Toussaint  found  the  source 
of  his  charity.  He  did  not,  perhaps,  constantly  read  and  as 
constantly  misunderstand  the  Bible ;  but  he  nourished  his  soul 
daily  with  tlie  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  and  put  it  in  practice.  He 
dki  not  set  himself  up  as  a  revolutionist,  exciting  a  war  of  races; 
but  he  spoke  to  men  of  his  color,  more  of  their  duties  than  of 

*  The  victims  of  the  fever  in  1798  were  two  thousand  and  eighty-six,  of 
whom  eighty-six  wore  interred  at  St.  Peter's.  Hardie's  account  of  the  ma- 
lignant fever;  New  York,  1799.  Tiiis  gives,  however,  an  imperfect  idea  of 
the  number  of  deaths  among  the  Catholics,  as  many  were  buried  in  the  Pot- 
ter's Field. 


i 


I^  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


their  rio-ht^  nn^i  i  •  '  357 

\ ""  -'-r  t,r:  irrr  r  ^^  ^•-■"  -<'  — c 

"h^o'o  population  of  New  CV         ''°"  ""  ^'^'^  ^-"  4Z 

"f;  ^i-,  hi»so.f!;;:;\:: :  't'  V'  ^--^-^^  ^  " 

^"keoutin  the  island,  the  lattl,  ,'  ^"^'"'  ""^  ''™'Mion 
"ie^e  he  left  Wm  wi.I  wllame  Ve  f  ?'""  '°  ^««  ^o*. 
««  We.t  Indies  to  colIectZT  •  "^  ''''''^  ""^  ■■'^«™^d  to 
^^^■■-■■d  died  on  the  volL  ,?         ,°'  •"'' '°*"'=-    B»t  M^ 

-tress,  and  he  resolved  w::;:  , t.l"  ^""P"'  »'  "  » 
i^^  »a.ntenance.    He  was  very  0X0^7     '  *^"'''  "'  ""^  '»«  '» 
-d  by  his  intelligence  and  pZZ  h  "'  '  ''^'"'  ="'"^«»-, 
■o^ble  hairdresser  to  the  best  soc  eTv      ?"  ''"'""'=  *^  ''-''■ 
Bemrd,  wishing  to  be  no  long  r  del '^    »         '  '*■    '*'"^'""<' 
subsequently  married  one  of  w7     .        °"  '"'''  ''''™'»  P'"--- 
;"er  being  a  rieh  planter  in  s^  Do  "i"""'  *'  ^■-'-.  wb^ 
'k;  v,oIin  in  the  orchestras    Vf      S°'  **«  '■'"J''<=ecl  to  play 
-dor  himself  exonerated  fr  1  h^  ,7"'' ''"™™'-'  "«  ""t  col 
'»-d  to  place  in  her  han  s,  „   '   '"'f  '"  f  ^  ""^-s,  .d  eon- 
l>.a  sanngs.    Besides  this,  Ca  bf  T^  "'''"'  ''""'^^"='/.  «" 
■»  the,r  houses,  and  the  iLcid  ntt   '  7",   '""'  '°  ™'  th^    ict 
-■"erous  as  they  are  tou  W     oToY !"''  •='"'%  "re  as 
P;»  pnesyust  landed,  „,,3,-,f™j»3'';e  learned  that  a 
to  the  typhoid  fever.    Toossainf  7   ^  f ""' '"  "  ^-''^t,  a  prey 

tie -man  down  to  the  ZrinC       '°  ""^  W  bro^hl 
took  h,m  to  his  house,  and  nlT,        "'™'  ^"^"'"^  »  "^We 
mother  time  the  yelC  fever  1      "  ""  "^  '-°™'-«l-    M 
"Sed  so  violently  fc    ,  -^'7;  "^  f    'ging  Ifew  Yort,  «„„ 

*«  ends  of «/«.  7  "et:;* :  *^  ?""-  "•"i-S 

^--  -t  heard  that  a  wcHanT^'b    ^  aT";"^'"  '^™- 

"««"  aOandoued  in  ^ne  of 


858 


THE   CATIIOMC  CnURCH 


li 


M 


tho  houses ;  lie  erosBod  the  bairior.  and  took  hia  place  by  licf 
bedside,  lavisliiiig  every  cure  iij  jj  .  oi. 

In  1810  Madame  Nicola.,  on  l-er  dcalli-bed,  emancipated  her 
fiiithful  slave,  and  God  blessed  Toussaint's  charity  l)y  enabiinj^ 
him  to  acquire  a  modest  competence.  He  devoted  tho  greater 
part  of  his  income  to  gooa  works,  and  not  content  with  giving 
liimself,  he  was  always  ready  to  go  round  wit>)  t^Otuuptio'i  lists 
for  churches,  con\ents,  orphan  asylums,  any  thing  that  concerned 
religion  and  charity.  When  he  thus  solicited  alms  for  others, 
he  knocked  at  tlii'  doors  of  his  old  customers;  and  donations  of 
many  Protestant  lamilits  to  works  essentially  Catholic  are  due 
to  the  influcn  e  of  Toussaint.  Thus  he  hved  doing  good  till  tho 
age  of  eighty-seven,  and  we  are  assured  that  for  sixty  years  he 
never  failed  lo  hear  Mass  every  morning.  IIa\ing  survived  his 
wife  and  children,  he  leit  the  principal  part  of  his  property  to  a 
lady  who  had  been  one  of  his  kindest  patrons,  but  whom  an  un- 
fortunate marriage  had  reduced  to  the  utmost  misery.  He  died 
as  he  had  lived,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1853,  and  a  rich  Protestant 
lady  who  attended  his  funeral  thus  describes  it  in  a  private  letter 
to  a  friend : 

"  I  went  to  town  on  Saturday  to  attend  Toussaint's  funeral. 
High  Mass,  incense,  candles,  rich  robes,  sad  and  solenm  music, 
were  there.  The  Church  gave  all  it  could  gW^'  to  prince  or  noble. 
The  priest,  his  friend,  Mr.  Quin,  made  a  most  interesting  address. 
He  did  not  allude  to  his  color,  and  scar-'ely  to  his  station ;  it 
seemed  as  if  his  virtues  as  a  man  and  a  Christian  had  absorbed 
all  other  thoughts.  A  stranger  would  not  have  suspected  that  a 
black  man,  of  his  humble  calling,  lay  in  t}»e  m'ist  of  us.  He 
said  no  relative  was  left  to  mourn  for  !  ,  y»'t  many  present 
would  feel  that  they  had  lost  one  who  alv.ays  h  id  wise  counsel 
for  the  rich,  words  of  encouragement  for  the  poor,  and  all  would 
be  grateiLii  for  having  known  him. 

"  The  aid  he  had  given  to  the  late  Bishop  Fenwick,  of  Boston, 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


859 


Lincral. 

Iniusic, 
noble. 

lldrcss. 

^on;  it 
,ovl)etl 
ItliHt  a 
lie 
present 
lounsel 
Iwovild 

ioston, 


to  Father  Powers,  of  our  city,  to  all  the  Catholii;  institutions, 
was  dwelt  uj>on  ut  large.  How  nuicli  I  have  learned  of  his 
charitable  deeds  which  I  had  never  known  before  1  Mr.  Quin 
said:  'There  were  leit  few  among  the  clergy  superior  to  him  in 
devotion  and  zeal  for  the  Church  and  for  the  glory  of  God ; 
among  laynnn,  none.'" 

Another  Protestant  lady,  ISIrs.  II.  F.  Lee,  has  written  the  life 
of  the  venerable  negro,  to  whom  she  not  inaptly  applies  the  ex- 
pression of  the  old  English  author,  Thomas  Fuller :  "  God's 
image  carved  in  ebony."*  The  abolitionists  of  Boston  justly  ex- 
tol the  virtues  and  intelligence  of  Toussaint,  and  his  merit  must 
have  been  of  no  ordinary  character  when  his  being  a  Catholic 
did  not  put  him  on  the  index  of  New  England  Puritauism.  For 
us,  who  know  that  men,  all  equal  before  God,  may  be  unequal 
on  earth,  we  admire  piety  wherever  it  shines  forth,  in  the  heart 
of  the  slave  as  in  the  soul  of  a  king. 

T^'ather  William  O'Brien,  so  devoted  in  the  hour  of  pestilence, 
wa^  no  less  sensible  to  the  importance  of  giving  children  a 
Ch'istian  education,  and  in  1800  he  opened  a  free-school  in  St. 
Peter's  Church,  which  soon  numbered  five  hundred  pupils. 
About  the  san.e  time  the  Rev.  Matthew  O'Brien  arrived  from 
Ireland,  and  was  attached  to  the  same  palish  in  New  York. 
The  latter  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  in  Ireland  as  a  preacher, 
where  a  volume  of  his  sermons  had  been  pubhshed.f  He  was 
consulted  by  Mrs.  Setou  in  the  long  indecision  which  preceded 
her  conversion,  and  he  enlightened  her  by  written  arguments  in 
reply  to  the  treatises  which  Dr.  Hobart  wrote  to  retain  that  vir- 
tuous lady  in  error.  We  have  already  related  the  life  of  Mother 
Seton,  the  venerable  foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Em- 

*  Memoir  of  Pierre  Toussaint,  born  a  Slave  in  St.  Domingo  ;  by  tlio  au- 
thor of  Three  Experiments  in  Living,  etc.,  etc. ;  third  edition.  Boston, 
Crosby  &  Nichols,  1854. 

t  Sermons  on  some  of  the  most  important  subjects  of  morality  and  reli- 
gion ;  by  the  Kev.  Matthew  O'Brien,  D.  D.    Cork,  James  Haly,  1798. 


r 


3C0 


THE  CATHOLIC  CUUllCH 


Bit'k 


motsbiirg.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Multhew  O'Brien  Imd  the  consolation 
of  receiving  her  uhjiinition  ia  St.  Peter's  Church  on  Ash  Wed- 
nestiay,  March  14,  1805;  on  the  25th  she  made  her  first  com- 
nuiniun  in  the  same  church,  and  on  the  2Gth  of  May  received 
confirmation  at  the  liands  of  Bishop  Carroll.* 

In  1805  the  Abb6  Sibourd  was  an  assistant  pastor  at  St. 
Peter's.  Tliis  ecclesiastic  came  from  Europe  about  1798,  but 
wo  do  not  know  in  what  parish  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  placed 
him  before  1805.  He  became  for  a  time  confessor  and  director 
of  Mother  Seton,  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  representations 
to  Bishop  Dubourg  that  the  latter  earnestly  urged  the  pious 
convert  to  leave  New  York  for  Baltimore.  When  Dr.  Dubourg 
was  consecrated  to  the  See.  of  New  Orleans,  he  persuaded  his 
friend  to  accompany  him  to  his  diocese,  and  in  1820  Mr.  Sibourd 
was  Vicar-general  of  New  Orleans.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1824, 
ho  acted  as  assistant  to  Monseigneur  Dubourg  at  the  consecra- 
tion of  Bishop  Rosati,  which  took  place  in  the  parish  Church  of 
the  Assumption ;  and  when  the  former  prelate  left  America  in 
1826  to  fill  the  episcopal  See  of  Montauban,  Mr.  Sibourg  also 
returned  to  France,  and  died  Canon  of  Montauban.  Among  the 
letters  of  the  Rev.  Simon  Brut6,  the  future  Bishop  of  Vincennes, 
is  a  letter  dated  in  1811,  with  the  following  passage:  "Mr.  Du- 
bourg will  go  to  New  Orleans  as  spiritual  administrator,  as  Mr. 
Sibourd  absolutely  persists  in  refusing." 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  exactly  the  changes  in  the  clergy  at 
New  York;  yet  it  is  certain  that  in  1805  a  Rev.  Dr.  CafFrey  ex- 
ercised the  holy  ministry  at  St.  Peter's.  In  1807  the  Rev. 
Matthias  Kelly  and  Rev.  John  Byrne  also  resided  at  New  York, 
and  their  names  figure  in  a  list  of  subscribers  to  Pastorini's  His- 


f 


*  The  Kev.  Wm.  O'Brien  continued  to  act  in  New  York  till  his  death  on 
the  14tli  of  May,  1816,  though  not  apparently  aa  pastor.  Dr.  Matthew 
O'Brien,  however,  left  New  York  in  consequence  of  difficulties  which  arose, 
and  died  at  Baltimore  on  the  20th  of  October,  1816. 


f 


"'">  "".■  „„.,.,l,u„,  „f  t,,„.^  "'"!"■'  Fo,„v,ct-,v,,„  „,„„ 

"  '««=  tu  ,„,i„,  „.,,„,-^i,.  i,  f,,     ^"'y.  l"i,  wout  W  KussiH 
'"»  t>v„  y„.„.  „„„.,.  '»  "«.  Socoty  of  Jeaus,  „„d  „fe, 

f;"™l.  <;.b,.i,.|  c;r„l,er     Tl,;    ' 'r  f """™  ""^  "■"  ^-P^-'or- 

--..ate  opened  „t  «;„,,.,,;,  °  '  «  ««'  Jo  enter  tl.e  Jesuit 
P.'.ertl,oocl  i„  ,1,0  follow,-,,;  yj  "''«»»•,  ">.J  «"»  ,.ai,ed  ,„  the 
"vo  Fathers  ,,o,,ed  «,„„  ToCldl"  "T""^  "'  ^"*  ^"'k  the 
P-enee  of  ,  ,„,         „„„    £  ™«;   ""^  co,„fo,,ed  ky  the 

"«8,  Pope  I,-,,,  VII.  ,„d  ,,Xd  ToV!'  '"'  '""^  °'^Kii  8, 
Bal  .mo,-e  i„t„  ,  metropolit,,,  1  "  "'"'i"''''  1-^  «»eW 

l''..ladelpl,ia,  Now  Vork  Ko  ',  1,""  "'•<""'"?  "^^  Sees  i 

F."l-.-  Luke  CoucTl       T;  ""''  ^'''''^'""' 

«»<!  received  episcopal    o  soor  ?  '  '"'''°'  "'  ^"*  ^-^ 

at.  «.e  hands  of  Ca,'di„,r:  t:,S  T  f"  ''*  "'^P"'.  "ot 
B.*op  Conoanen  was  boru   h,  m'  f™'  "'  "'"  P'-Paganda 
*-  sent  to  ,.e„ei.e  the  white    lb  r  ^'"  "'  "  "^""^  «e«> 

"    «.«  Holy  Qoss,  belonJi,,  t    '    ^-™.-"e,  in  the  oonvent 
*'..eh,  at  the  expi,,,tion  oVhis    o  i,  ,1'  ''™'""-"'.  f-" 
St.  Mary's,  i„  the  Minerva    ol       ,      '  '"  *"*  '«»">™<i  to 
■"  Borne.    Atthete,-,„inat;„  ofr"^  ""'^  """e  Minerva^ 
%.oal  studies,  d„,.ing  wld^  L' '^    ™"^«^"  -"-  of  thee 

*  At  the  epoch^TT^ ^ -_____'     *'^^  college  of 

tbr««  n„^.. T°°''  ^f  the  so-called  V.^ZTZ        ~~ °^     ' 


1 6    ^      ''  ^''^  •'^e^  bounded  duriag 


362 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I'-!  i 


r 


the  Irish  Dominicans  in  the  same  capital,  and  then  commenced 
that  brilliant  career  in  Rome  which  ended  in  his  nomination 
by  the  Holy  See,  first,  to  the  See  of  Kilmacduagh  in  Ireland, 
and  afterwards  to  that  of  New  York,  then  erected  for  the  first 
time  into  a  diocese.  The  reasons  which  may  have  influenced  the 
Holy  See  in  making  choice  of  Dr.  Concanen  for  promotion  to 
such  a  high  office  in  the  Church  may  be  easily  explained.  For 
several  years  previously  he  had  filled  the  office  of  liieologus 
Casanatensis,  a  chair  founded  at  the  Minerva  in  connection  with 
the  celebrated  library  there  instituted  and  endowed  by  the  mu- 
nificence of  the  illustrious  Cardinal  Casanate.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned that  according  to  the  terms  of  this  foundation  there  were 
usually  six  cathedratici  and  theologi,  one  being  selected  fi'om 
each  of  the  great  provinces  of  the  Order  of  Preachers  in  Europe ; 
viz.,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  the  Low  Countries,  or  Poland.  The  Cardinal  was  devotedly 
attached  to  the  doctrines  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  among 
the  qualifications,  therefore,  for  the  office  which  he  thus  insti 
tuted,  a  Mastership — that  is  to  say,  a  Doctorship,  acquired  by 
teaching  the  course  of  St.  Thomas — was  indispensably  necessary. 
Some  of  the  ablest  men  that  Rome  has  seen,  continued  to  repre- 
sent their  respective  countries  and  languages  in  the  office  alluded 
to  up  to  the  period  of  the  first  French  Revolution,  and  not  the 
least  among  them  was  the  representative  of  the  Hibernian  Do- 
minicans, Dr.  Luke  Concanen.  While  residing  at  the  Minerva 
in  the  capacity  just  mentioned.  Dr.  Concanen  became  agent  to 
the  late  Dr.  Troy,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  subsequently  to 

the  thirteenth  century.  St.  Clement's,  togfether  with  St.  Sixtus'a,  was  made 
over  by  a  general  chapter  of  the  Order  shortly  after  the  suppression  of  con- 
vents in  Ireland  to  the  Hibernia  Dominicana,  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
missionaries  for  this  country.  A  similar  one  was  founded  in  Lisbon,  and 
another  in  Lorraine  (now  no  longer  in  existence),  and  these  were  the  means 
of  preservation  of  the  Dominican  Order  in  Ireland  during  the  days  of 'lerso- 
cution. 


3 


ced 
,ion 
ind, 
first 

the 
n  to 

For 

OffUS 

with 
mu- 
men- 
were 
from 
trope ", 
eland, 
ptedly 
mong 
insti 
^ed  by 
ssary. 
repre- 
ludcd 
ot  the 
Do- 
linerva 
ent  to 
tly  to 

made 
)f  con- 
icatlug 
i>n,  and 

meuna 
'  »:ierBo- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


363 


v^ 


all  the  bishops  of  Ireland.  It  might  be  said  that  such  was  the 
high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  at  the  Propaganda  while 
thus  engaged,  that  he  either  altogether  influenced  or  certainly 
had  a  part  in  advising  every  appointment  that  was  made  for 
Ireland  and  the  British  colonies. 

It  may  be  worth  recording  that  Dr.  Concanen  was  well  known 
in  Rome  also  as  a  preacher  in  the  Italian  language — a  rare  thing 
for  a  foreigner  to  succeed  in,  or  even  attempt.  Between  his  du- 
ties at  the  Minerva  in  his  double  capacity  of  Theologus  Casana- 
tensis  and  Socius  (or  Secretary)  for  his  own  province  of  Ireland 
to  the  head  of  the  Order,  and  the  agencies  he  had  to  discharge  at 
the  Sacred  Congregations,  he  was  brought  into  immediate  and 
constant  contact  with  the  principal  authorities  at  Rome,  and  it  is 
therefore  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  been  solicited  on 
various  occasions  to  accept  such  a  mark  of  favor  as  a  mitre-  His 
motive  for  declining  the  hon()r  was  that  his  health  began  to  suf- 
fer from  the  effects  of  an  attack  of  dysentery,  and  he  dreaded 
coming  to  encounter  the  damp  climate  of  Ireland.  In  1810  he 
accepted  that  of  New  York  in  preference  to  the  one  oflfcred  him 
in  his  native  land,  on  account  of  the  southern  latitude  of  the 
former  and  the  favorable  account  he  had  received  of  its  climate. 
Probably  the  disturbed  state  of  Italy,  then  overrun  with  invading 
and  hostile  armies,  had  its  weight  in  inducing  him  to  leave  the 
city  in  which  his  heart  was  centred,  and  where  he  had  resided  for 
nearly  forty  years. 

He  had  long  taken  an  intt3rest  in  the  American  missions,  and 
it  was  chiefly  by  his  advice  that  the  flrst  convent  of  Dominicans 
had  been  founded  in  Kentucky  in  1805,  and  he  constantly,  as 
long  as  he  lived,  showed  himself  a  generous  benefactor  of  that 
house.  When  nomin;\ted  to  the  See  of  New  York  he  accepted, 
believing  that  his  health  would  there  enable  him  to  discharge  the 
onerous  duties  which  the  episcopacy  in  a  newly-erected   See 


> 


I 


m 


364 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


would  impose  upon  liim.*  He  sot  about,  liis  preparations,  in- 
tending, as  soon  as  he  took  possession  of  the  new  diocese,  to  call 
in  missionaries  of  his  Order.  Unfortunately,  death  struck  him 
down  before  he  could  leave  Italy,  and  this  premature  death, 
which  for  eight  years  deprived  New  York  of  a  bishop,  defeated 
entirely  the  project  of  a  foundation  of  the  Dominicans. 

Soon  after  his  consecration  Bishop  Concauen  proceeded  to 
Leghorn,  in  order  to  proceed  to  his  See ;  but,  as  he  wrote  to 
x\rchbishop  Troy,  "  after  remaining  four  months  in  Leghorn  and 
its  environs,  at  a  hotel,  and  expending  a  very  considerable  sum 
of  money,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  returning  to  this  city 
(Rome).  You  will  do  me  a  singular  favor  in  procuring  me  some 
information  from  Dr.  Carroll.  I  wish  to  know  what  assignment 
or  provision  there  is  for  the  support  of  the  new  bishop.  You 
will  oblige  me  by  any  information  on  this  head  before  my  depart- 
ure from  hence,  which  will  be  God  knows  when."f 

As  Father  Kohlmann  remarks  in  one  of  his  letters,  the  bishop, 
had  he  known  the  utter  absence  of  any  provision,  would  not,  in 
his  feeble  health,  have  attempted  to  take  possession  of  the  See ; 
but  of  this  he  was  unaware,  and  believing  the  task  not  beyond 
his  strength,  tried  all  means  in  his  power  to  repair  to  his  beloved 
flock;  but  the  unhappy  circumstances  of  wars  ar.l  revolutions 
always  prevented  him  from  attaining  the  end  of  his  most  ardent 
desires,  till  at  length  he  had  reason  to  believe,  after  a  series  of 
disappointments  and  expenses,  that  the  long-wished-for  period 
had  arrived  which  would  enable  him  to  obtain  a  passage  to 
Amciica.  Naples  was  tie  port  from  which  he  contemplated 
sailing,  whither  he  repaired  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  the  op- 
portunity of  a  vessel  there  bound  for  the  United  States.  He 
had  already  secured  his  passage,  when  the  government  of  Naples, 

*  Letter  of  Father  Eobcrt  A.  White,  0.  S.  D.,  of  Dublin,  the  nephew  of 
Bishop  Concanen,  who  has  kindly  furnished  the  information, 
t  Letter  of  Father  Kohluiann,  comuiunicatod  by  Father  Q.  Fenwick,  S.  J. 


T 


•^ 


Pi 


i 


in- 


r 


#^ 


IN  THE   VNITED  STATES. 


^We  to  consocrato  tlfo  rc,"ldrof ,'  f    "''"'  '"'"  '=™'-  ^™'8 
floct,  that  Lo  fell  dang!  Ilv'll  „  T  ''^"  '°  "'^  ^''^"'-^  "f  Ms 
without  s„.piei„,  of  pfL„    e'l  "Vr  "  '"''  ""^'^  "f'=-'  -' 
";g  life  in  the  g^at  convl    f Tt   ''.'^^''™P'»■■y  «-d  od;,> 
P>-,  on  the  »th  of  June  Z8  0     TtT'r-  '"  ""  "'^  "^  ^^^'- 
day,  were  celebrated  the  fmeral'ol  '       '  ™  "'"  '"""'""g 

ishop  of  New  Yort,  .hot  dTsle tfT'"  "'  "■'  ''^^'  ^^''^°''' 
h™,  at  the  age  of  „ea,ly  sevear  to  i'^f  ""'"'  '■"•  '"""^'=d 
"g  to  this  country,  after  havW  ^,,  '  '■'''°'""°»  "^  «=»»- 
".0  Court  of  Eo,uo,';he     h  I^Jd     t  ""'■''  '"'''^  '""  "' 

l"s  nch  library  and  a  legacy  of  .     f       °"''  '"  !"""%, 

these  were  also  lost  to  the  tee  ^5  v^T '"'  "<"'-  '  -^ 
Pontiff  learned  with  deep  .rief  h  ,  !  "*•  ^'''^  "^"'""ig" 
Wed  with  the  title  of^S  tuty  '1°'  ="  r'""  ''"™'  ^« 
of  Napoleon,  and  in  this  situation        ,,  "'™ '''<' l™o°<"- 

»0'nmation.     The  See  of  tCZt         ""' '"'°"^"''  '«  »  "■"- 


cant,  before  ever  havin.  bee,    oc  7  T    ^"^  ■'''  ''"""'"^•^  ^■"- 

ci::nr-'^-'^.''-^e:::!::-^^ 

state  of  Catholicity  in  Ne^y  Ycl'  nf  fi 


366 


TH£   CATUOLIC   CHURCH 


was  thus  deprived  of  its  pastor,  we  find  an  account  in  the  letter 
of  Father  Kohhnann  of  the  2 1st  of  Mai'ch,  1 800.  "  Three  months 
ago,"  he  writes,  "  Archbishop  Carroll,  with  the  agreement  of  our 
worthy  Supeiiors,  sent  me  to  New  Yoi'k  to  attend  the  congrega- 
tion, together  with  the  diocese,  till  the  arrival  of  our  Eight  Rev. 
Bishop,  Richard  Luke  Concanen,  lately  consecrated  at  Rome. 
This  parish  comprises  about  sixteen  thousand  Catholics,  so  neg- 
lected iu  every  respect,  that  it  goes  beyond  all  conception."  This 
Father,  v  itii  his  zealous  coadjutor,  immediately  began  to  improve 
St.  Peter's,  and  excite  the  piety  of  the  fjiithful.  Their  efforts 
were  not  unrewarded.  Ere  long,  he  wrote,  consolingly  :  "  The 
communion-rail  daily  filled,  though  deserted  before ;  general  con- 
fessions every  day  (for  the  majority  of  this  immense  parish  are 
natives  of  Ireland,  many  Ox"  whom  have  never  seen  the  face  of  a 
priest  since  their  arrival  in  the  country) ;  three  sermons,  in 
English,  French,  and  German,  every  Sunday,  instead  of  the  sin- 
gle one  in  English ;  three  Catechism  classes  every  Sunday,  in- 
stead of  one  ;  Protestants  every  day  instructed  and  received  into 
the  Church  ;  sick  persons  attended  with  cheerfulness  at  the  first 
call,  and  ordinarily  oUch  as  stand  in  great  need  of  instruction 
and  general  confessions ;  application  made  at  all  houses  to  raise  a 
subscription  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  by  which  means  three 
thousand  dollars  have  been  collected,  to  be  paid  constantly  every 
year." 

The  increased  number  of  the  faithful  in  New  York  called  loud- 
ly for  the  erection  of  a  new  church,  and  Father  Kohlmann  did 
not  shrink  from  uudertakmg  it.  A  large  plot  of  ground  was 
pui'chased  in  what  was  then  the  unoccupied  space  between 
Broadway  and  the  Bowery  road,  and  here  "  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kohlmann,  Rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
and  Vicar-general  of  the  diocese,  amidst  a  large  and  respectable 
assemblage  of  citizens,  exceeding  three  thousand,"  on  Thursday, 
Jie  8th  of  June,  1809  ;  and,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion 


^F■^ 


•» 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


367 


i^rJ 


tat 


of  the  venerablo  Archbisliop  Carroll,  the  new  church  was  called 
St.  Patrick's. 

Father  Kohlinann  hoped  to  conclude  the  church  before*  the 
end  of  the  year,  but  owing  to  various  delays,  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Patrick  was  not  consecrated  till  Ascension-day,  1816,  when 
the  illustrious  Dr.  Cheverus,  P)ishop  of  Boston,  performed  that 
ceremony,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  taking  part  in 
the  procession,  with  the  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  who  directed  the 
temporal  affairs  of  the  new  church  till  1817,  when  the  Legisla- 
ture, by  a  special  act;,  created  a  new  board  of  trustees  for  the 
Cathedral.f 

Although  the  functions  of  the  parochial  ministry  must  have 
filled  up  the  days  of  Father  Kohlmaun  and  Father  Fenwick,  the 
two  Jesuits  did  not  lose  sight  of  one  great  object  of  their  com- 
ing— the  education  of  youth.  They  had  brought  with  them  four 
young  scholastics  of  their  order,  Michael  White,  James  Red- 
nioud,  A.dam  Marshall,  and  James  Wallace;  and  early  in  1809 
opened  a  school,  the  basis  of  a  future  college.  Lots  in  front  of 
the  Cathedral  were  purchased  as  a  site,  and  in  July,  Father 
Kohlmann  wrote :  "  As  to  our  school,  it  now  consists  of  about 
thirty -five  of  the  most  respectable  children  of  the  city,  both 
Catholics  and  of  other  persuasions,  among  whom  four  are  board- 
ing at  our  house,  and  in  all  probability  we  shall  have  seven  or 
eiffht  boarders  next  Auijust."  This  school  was  transferred  to 
Broadway  in  September,  but  in  the  following  year  removed  to 
what  was  then  the  countrv,  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Fif- 
teenth-street.  This  rising  college  now  assumed  the  name  of  The 
New  York  Literary  Institution,  and  was  the  instrument  of  im- 
mense good.  A  biographer  of  Bishop  Fenwick,  speaking  of  its 
usefulness,  remarks:  "The  New  York  Literary  Institution,  under 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Almanac,  1850,  p.  59. 

t  The  acts  bear  diite  April  11  and  April  14,  1817.    The  Koman  CathoUo 
Benevolent  Association  wiui  hicorporated  about  the  same  time.  • 


£ 


308 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


his  guidance,  readied  an  eminence  scarcely  surpassed  by  any  at 
the  present  day.  Such  was  its  reputation,  even  among  Prot- 
estants, that  Governor  Tompkins,  afterwards  Vice-president  of  the 
United  States,  thought  none  moi'e  eligible  for  the  education  of 
his  own  children,  and  ever  afterwards  professed  towards  its  presi- 
dent the  highest  esteem." 

The  teachers  were  talented  men,  and  Mr.  Wallace,  who  was 
an  excellent  mathematician,  compiled  a  very  full  treatise  on 
Astronoinv  and  the  Use  of  the  Globes,*  one  of  the  first  contri- 
butions of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  America  to  exact  science,  a 
field  in  winch  Fathers  Curley,  Sestini,  and  others,  have  since  so 
sno'^ssfully  labored.  Besides  those  already  named.  Father  Peter 
Mh  ,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Gobert,  lay  teacher,  aided  in  the  work  of 
iustructi';' 

It  soon  became,  however,  painfully  evident  to  Fathers  Kohlmann 
and  Fenwick,  that  in  the  actual  position  of  the  society,  it  was  im- 
possible for  them  to  carry  on  the  college.  At  this  time,  it  will  be 
remembered,  the  illustrious  Pontiff,  Pius  VII.,  had  not  restored 
to  the  Christian  woild  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  it  existed  in  Russia, 
Sicily,  and  America,  but  the  distance  between  these  countries 
prevented  its  development,  and  even  ready  intercourse. 

As  soon  as  the  fact  became  known,  Archbishop  Carroll  and 
his  holy  coadjutor  were  deeply  grieved,  though  both  felt  the  pro- 
pnety  of  the  step.  The  college  actually  cont-^Jhed  seventy-four 
boarders  in  1813,  and  the  prelates  sought,  if  possible,  to  maintain 
it,  if  the  Jesuits  withdrew.  Father  John  Grassi,  then  Superior  of 
the  American  Jesuits,  in  a  letter  to  Father  Kohlmann,  exposes 


*  A  New  Treatise  on  tlie  Use  of  the  Globes  and  Practical  Astronomy,  by 
J.  Wallace,  member  of  the  New  York  I,iterary  Institution.  Now  York: 
Smith  &  Formaii,  1812,  512  pp.  James  Wallace,  born  in  Ireland,  about  1788, 
died  on  the  15th  of  January,  1851,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eiglil,  in  Lexinfirtun. 
District,  South  Carolina.  Ho  was  for  many  years  Protessor  of  Matlieniatics 
in  the  college  ut  Columbia,  S.  C,  occasionally,  however,  exercising  the  min- 
iBtry. 


"H^ 


^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


369 


m^ 


if* 


the  interest  felt  concerning  tliis  institution  of  loaining :  "The 
Kev.  Mr.  Marcclial,  a  Sulpitian,  paid  a  sliort  visit  to  this  college 
(Georgetown).  It  is  coniidently  asserted  that  he  is  to  be  Bishop 
of  New  York,  and  the  great  concern  he  showed  for  the  Literary 
Institution  confirms  me  in  this  idea.  I  exposed  to  him  onr  situa- 
tion, the  want  of  members,  and  lie  was  sensible  that  such  an  in- 
ptitution  is  onus  insiq^portahiU  for  ns,  in  our  present-  circum- 
stances, and  for  several  years  to  come.  I  consulted  again,  quite 
lately,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Carroll  on  this  verv  subject ; 
and  he  answered,  that  as  the  want  of  proper  persons  to  carry  it 
on  is  evident,  this  ought  to  be  reprcKsented  to  those  who  are  con- 
cerned in  it." 

The  Fathers  could  not  foresee  the  speedy  restoration  of  their 
Society,  nor  its  subsequent  wonderful  progress.  In  the  summer 
of  1813,  they  retired  from  the  direction  of  the  college,  in  which 
they  had  endeared  themselves  to  their  pupils  and  won  the  admi- 
ration of  the  best  families  in  the  city,  Protestant  as  Avell  as 
Catholic. 

Another  religious  order  was  at  this  moment  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  to  their  care  the  Fathers  of  8t.  Ignatius  resigned  the 
care  of  the  college  which  they  had  created.  This  orde?'  was  the 
monks  of  La  Trappe,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  hereafter.  Mean- 
Avhile,  we  return  to  the  apostolic  labors  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus. 

The  two  eminent  Jesuits,  Father  Benedict  Fenwick  and  Father 
Anthony  Kohlmann,  were  only  a  few  months  at  New  York,  when 
they  were  called  to  the  death-bed  of  one  of  the  greatest  enemies 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  infidel  who  played  in  America 
the  part  of  Voltaire  in  France,  .md  who  had  the  odious  glory  of 
creating  in  the  New  World  a  school  of  anti-Christian  pliiloso])hy. 
The  visit  of  the  two  priests  inspired  the  dying  man  with  no  salu- 
tary reflections.  He  was  already  abandoned  by  God,  and  given 
up  to  despair  ;  but  the  details  oi  this  intervi  w,  nevertheless,  de- 


370 


THE  CATIIOMC  ciirKcri 


jii 


^ii! 


serve  to  be  known,  to  sliow  to  wluit  un  iuvful  stale  of  degmdation 
impiety  falls,  when  in  the  presence  of  death. 

Thomas  I'aiue,  born  in  Norfolkshire,  Enghmd,  on  llie  '29tii  of 
January,  1737,  was  successively  a  staymaker,  a  polilical  writer 
in  America,  an  envoy  from  Congress  to  Lonis  XVI.,  and  finally, 
representative  of  Calais  at  the  National  Convention.  This  cos- 
mopolitan philosopher,  who  did  not  even  speak  French,  neverthe- 
less sat  as  judge  on  the  king,  wliose  favoi'  he  liad  gone  to  seek 
eleven  years  before.  Keturning  to  private  life,  Taine  wrote  in 
PVance  his  infamous  work,  "  The  Age  of  Reason,"  in  which  he 
<VLtacks  revelation,  and  preaclifs  up  natural  religion.  His  disso- 
lute life  having  discredited  him  at  Paris,  he  returned  to  the 
United  States,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 
Hero  he  published  works  hostile  to  religion,  and  died,  consumed 
by  his  debaucheries,  at  Greenwich  Village,  near  New  York,  on 
the  8th  of  June,  1809. 

A  fortniglit  before  his  death,  the  philosopher,  seeing  himself 
abandoned  by  his  physicians,  was  plunged  into  a  gloomy  despair. 
Amid  the  silence  of  the  night,  he  was  heard  crying,  "  Lord  ! 
help  me  !  My  God,  what  have  I  done  to  sutler  so  ?  But  there 
is  no  God.  Yet,  if  there  is  a  God,  what  will  become  of  me  2" 
lie  could  not  bear  to  be  left  alone,  and  begged  to  hare  at  least 
a  child  near  the  bed,  in  which  he  wallowed  in  abject  filth. 
Seeking  new  remedies  in  every  direction,  Paine  saw  a  Shaking 
Quakeress,  wdiom  P'ather  Fcnwick  had  baptized  some  weeks  be- 
fore ;  and  she  told  him  that  no  one  but  a  Catholic  priest  could 
do  him  any  good.  The  wretched  freethinker,  who  cared  only 
for  his  body,  immediately  believed  that  a  priest  might  pi'olong 
for  a  few  days  his  wretched  existence ;  and  he  immediately  sent 
for  Father  Fenwick.  The  latter,  who  was  then  only  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  dreaded  his  own  inexperience,  and  begged  his  col- 
league. Father  Kohlmann,  to  accompany  him,  and  the  two  Jes- 
uits proceeded  to  the  house  oi  the  infidel.     But  as  soon  as  Paijie 


#> 


m 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


371 


^ 


Baw  his  error — as  soon  .v;  he  heard  his  pious  visitoi's  epcak  to 
him  of  his  soul  instead  oi  prescribing  a  remedy  for  his  physical 
evils,  he  imperiously  silenced  them,  refused  to  listen,  and  ordered 
them  out  of  the  room.  "  Paine  was  rou.sed  into  a  fury,"  wrote 
Father  Fenwick,  giving  an  account  of  this  interview  :  "he  grit- 
ted his  teeth,  twisted  aud  turned  himseil  Sicvd  a  times  in  his  bed, 
uttering  all  the  while  the  bitterest  imprecations.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve, such  was  the  rage  in  which  he  v,;'s  at  this  time,  that  if  he 
had  had  a  pist<'  he  would  have  shot  one  of  us ;  for  he  conduct- 
ed himself  ,  lore  like  a  madman  than  a  ra  .onal  creature.  '  Be- 
gone,' says  iie,  '  and  trouble  me  no  more.  I  was  in  peace,'  he 
continued,  '  till  you  came.  Away  with  you,  and  your  God,  too ; 
leave  the  room  instantly  :  all  that  you  have  uttered  are  lies — 
filthy  lies ;  aud  if  I  had  a  little  more  time  I  would  prove  it,  as  I 
did  about  your  impostor,  Jesus  Christ.'  'Leo  us  go,'  said  I  then, 
to  Father  Kohlmann  :  '  we  have  nothing  nxore  to  do  here.  He 
seems  to  be  entirely  abandoned  by  Go'l !'  "* 

Thomas  Paine  soon  expired,  in  the  anguish  of  despair,  having 
repulsed  the  ministers  of  Protestantism  as  o'  -fi  lately  as  he  drove 
away  the  Catholic  priests.  For  him,  as  foi  /^oltaire,  death  was 
the  most  fearful  of  trials;  and  the  recollect'on  of  their  blasphe- 
mies haunted  both  in  their  last  moments,  and  made  them  en- 
dure by  anticipation  the  tortures  of  another  life.  They  knew 
only  remorse,  for  their  pride  closed  the  way  to  repentance.  In 
both  cases,  priests  came  with  unequalled  ciiarity  to  save  these 
souls  from  the  flames  of  hell ;  for  priestly  •' jvotedness  braves 
the  outrages  of  the  crying  infidel,  as  it  does  the  miasma  of  con- 
tagion at  the  bed  of  the  plague-stricken.  Tn  France,  Voltaire 
has  lost  the  glitter  of  his  popularity  ;  but  in  x.merica,  the  wide- 


*  Death-bed  of  Tom  Paine.  Extract  from  a  letter  of  Bishop  Fenwick  to 
his  brother  in  Georgetown  College.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  v.  558.  The 
Biographie  Universelle  mentioas  briefly  hia  interview  with  two  Catholio 
priests. 


%  (Rf 


^  t 


372 


THK   CATU       TC   CHURCn 


(  I 

I 

r! 

i 


m 


i  1 


spread  soct  of  iiifuk-ls  iHure  .a\d  more  honor  tli«  memory  of 
Paine,  iih  the  greatest  benefaetor  of  liumanity.  Tho  anniveisary 
of  his  birth  is  celebratofi  by  tlio  partisans  of  his  impiety.  They 
assemble  at  gorgeous  banquets  and  festivities  :  1  idies,  child i"n, 
whole  families,  take  part  in  these  glorifications  of  atheism.  They 
drink  to  the  extinction  of  all  religions,  to  the  overthrow  of  all 
priesthood,  and,  blaspheming  the  name  of  God,  dance  on  tho 
very  threshold  of  eternity. 

Some  years  later,  Father  Kohlmann  had  occasion  to  render  an 
important  service  to  religion  by  firmly  resisting  the  orders  of  a 
tribunal,  which  called  upon  him  to  i-eveal  the  secrets  of  the  con- 
fessional. This  afl^iir,  whicli  produced  a  great  sensation  in  tho 
United  States,  suddenly  arose,  from  a  combination  of  very  (com- 
monplace circumstances.  A  Catholic  merchant,  Mr.  .James  Keat- 
ing, entered  a  complaint,  in  tho  month  of  March,  1813,  agair.st 
a  man  named  Phillips,  and  his  wife,  for  recei"ing  stolen  goods, 
which  belonged  to  him.  I'Soon  after,  two  negroes,  Bradley  and 
Brinkerhoff,  were  suspec*  "u  of  being  the  thieves  ;  but  before 
the  trial  came  on,  Mr.  Kciting  recovered  his  property,  and  asked 
to  have  the  case  dismissed.  This  was  out  of  the  question  ;  and 
on  being  asked  his  reasons,  Keating  stated  that  restitution  had 
been  made  to  him  through  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kohlmann,  who  was 
immediately  cited  as  a  witness,  to  prove  from  wliom  he  had  re- 
ceived the  stolen  property.  Father  Kohlmann  appeared,  but 
declined  to  answer,  denying  the  riglit  of  the  court  to  question  a 
priest  as  to  facts  which  are  unknown  to  him  except  through  tho 
confessional.  He  availed  himself  of  the  circumstance  to  set 
forth  at  length  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  tho  sacrament  of 
penance ;  and  his  discourse,  heard  with  attention  by  a  vast  thi'ong, 
was  spread  and  commented  on  by  the  press,  provoking  passion- 
ate discussions  on  the  part  of  several  Protestant  ministers.  The 
question  of  the  admissibility  of  the  evidence,  and  of  the  right  of 
exemption  claimed  by  Father  Kohlmann,  were  now  a  more  im- 


^ 


1 


^■u 


■T'  TM" 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


373 


portaut  matter  lliau  tho  convif'tion  of  two  ncij^roes.  A  tlfty  whh 
;ippoiiite(l  for  the  argumcut  of  the  point  whctlier  Father  Kohl- 
iiiaim  should  be  committed  for  contempt  of  court  iu  refusing  to 


■lehberation  of  the 
,.    n  law,  prolonged 

1 4th  of  June,  1813, 

\v,  and  President 

u  the  decision  of  tho 


answer.     The  pleading  of  the  counsc' 

judges,  the  thousand  technicalities  of  A; 

the  atlair  for  two  months;  and  at  last, 

the  Honorable  De  Witt  Clinton,  Mayoi  of 

of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  pronoun 

Court.     After  some  reflections  remarkable  for  the  wisdom  of  their 

views  and  a  spirit  of  liberality  iu  favor  of  the  Catholic  religion, 

this  distinguished  man  concluded  that  a  priest  could  not  be  called 

upon  to  testify  as  to  facts  known  to  him  only  by  virtue  of  his 

ministry;  and  his  opinion  concludes  with  tliese  words: 

"  We  speak  of  this  question  not  in  a  theological  sense,  but  in 
its  legal  and  constitutional  bearings.  Although  we  diifer  from 
the  witness  and  his  brethren  in  our  religious  creed,  yet  we  have 
no  reason  to  question  the  purity  of  their  motives,  or  to  impeach 
their  good  conduct  as  citizens.  They  are  protected  by  the  laws 
and  constitution  of  this  country,  in  the  full  and  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  ;  and  this  court  can  never  countenance  or  author- 
ize tho  application  of  insult  to  their  faith,  or  of  torture  to  their 
consciences."* 

The  principle  maintained  by  Father  Kohlmann  was  thus  adopt- 
ed by  the  tribunal;  but  it  might,  like  any  other  solution  of  jui'is- 
prudence,  be  again  called  in  question.  However,  in  1828,  when 
De  Witt  Clinton  was  governor  of  the  State,  the  Legislature  of 
New  York,  in  its  Revised  Statutes,  adopted  a  clause  which  pre- 
vented any  renewal  of  the  attempt,  by  deciding  that  "  no  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  or  priest  of  any  denomination  wliatsoever, 
shall  be  allowed  to  disclose  any  confessions  made  to  him  in  his 

*  Tlie  Catholic  Question  in  America. : — Whether  a  Roman  Catholic  Clergy- 
man bo,  in  any  case,  compelled  to  disclose  the  Secrets  of  Auricular  Confes- 
eion.     New  York  :  Edward  Gillespie,  1818,  p.  IU. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


■-lis 


III 


2.5 


IM 

1.8 


1.25 

1.4 

1.6 

.4 6"     — 

► 

V] 


<^ 


/}. 


^h 


/A 


<91 


¥^^i 


or- 


Hiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


# 


» 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


^n 


y^:%^ 


C/i 


^ 


i 


374 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


professional  character,  iu  the  course  of  discipline  enjoined  by  the 
lulos  or  practice  of  such  denomination."*  Yet  this  law  has  no 
force  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  a  simi- 
lar discussion,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  took  place  in  Virginia  in 
1855,  proves  that  other  States  need  to  imitate  New  York,  and 
fill  up  this  omission  in  their  code. 

Father  Kohlmann  published  the  whole  proceeding,  followed 
by  a  very  full  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  the 
sacrament  of  penance  ;  and  this  book  excited  several  refutations 
from  the  Protestant  clergy.  The  most  elaborate  was  that  from 
the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  Wharton,f  who,  after  having  been 


*  E.  S.,  Pt.  iii.,  Oh.  vii.,  Art.  8,  Sec.  72. 

It  is  an  error  iti  Oretineau  Joly  to  represent  this  as  a  question  of  life  or 
death  for  Catholicity.  No  :  Catholicity  would  not  be  dead  in  America  if  the 
court  had  ordered  the  Jesuit  to  reveal  the  secret  of  the  confessional.  As 
Father  Kohlmann  would  have  refused,  he  would  have  been  condemned  to 
imprisonment  for  his  contempt  during  the  term  of  the  court,  and  no  longer. 
The  law  of  1828  has  not  been  imitated  in  other  States  which  have  no  law  to 
protect  the  conscience  of  the  clergyman  ;  yet  the  recent  affair  at  Kichmoud 
is  almost  the  only  example,  since  Father  Kohlmann's,  in  which  n  court  has 
eouglit  to  intrude  between  the  priest  and  iiis  penitent.  The  case  in  ldl3  is 
important  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  it  drew  the  attention  of  Protestants  to 
tlie  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  gave  a  wide  circulation  to  Father  Kohl- 
mann's eloquent  exposition. 

+  Charles  II.  Wharton,  born  in  Maryland  in  1748,  was  ordained  in  England 
in  1760.  He  was  pastor  at  Worcester  when,  in  1783,  he  left  his  parish  and 
ciune  back  to  America.  The  next  year  he  published  "  A  Letter  to  the  Romiin 
Catholics  of  Worcester,"  to  announce  that  he  had  gone  over  to  Protestantism, 
ajul  justifying  the  step.  The  Rev.  John  Carroll  replied,  in  "  An  Address 
to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  the  United  States  of  America,  by  a  Catholic  Ger- 
gviiuin,"  Annapolis,  1784;  and  this  noble  refutation  confirmed  the  minds  of 
Catholics,  disquieted  and  mortified  at  Wharton's  apostasy.  That  gentleman 
became  Episcopal  minister  at  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  where  he  resided  till 
liis  death  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six.  He  was  twice  married,  and  died 
before  the  arrival  of  a  priest  for  whom  he  had  sent.  Strange  to  say,  the 
man  who  so  combated  confession,  heard  a  confession  and  gave  absolution  in 
1832.  His  Catholic  servant-girl,  dangerously  sick,  was  begging  for  a  priest; 
none  could  be  found;  and  Mr.  Wharton  told  her,  "Although  I  am  a  minis- 
ter, I  am  also  a  Catholic  priest,  and  can  give  absolution  in  your  case ;"  which 
he  accordingly  did.  His  controversy  with  Carroll  is  published  under  the 
title.  •'  A  Concise  View  of  the  Principal  Points  of  Controversy  between  the 


! 


1 


^  ):■:■: 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


375 


a  priest  for  twenty-four  years,  fell,  unhappily,  into  apostasy. 
This  man,  now  quite  aged,  seeing  the  effect  produced  by  "  The 
Catholic  Question,"  seized  his  envenomed  pen  to  defame  anew 
the  faith  of  his  ancestors.  His  pamphlet  drew  a  learned  reply 
from  the  Rev.  S.  F.  O'GpJlagher,*  a  Catholic  priest  of  Charleston, 
to  which  Wharton  retorted  in  a  second  pamphlet.  The  length 
and  duration  of  this  controversy  show  how  widely  had  been 
spread  the  defence  of  Father  Kohlmann  ;  and  the  learned  Jesuit 
followed  up  this  work  by  a  more  extended  publication,  in  refuta- 
tion of  the  errors  of  the  modern  Arians,  known  in  the  United 
States  as  Unitarians. 

In  the  widowed  state  in  which  the  Church  of  New  York  lan- 
guished, deprived  of  a  bishop.  Fathers  Fenwick  and  Kohlmann 
neglected  nothing  to  prevent  the  Church  from  sufferiag  from  the 
vacancy  of  the  See  ;  and  as  they  had  sought  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  young  men,  so,  too,  they  actively  endeavored  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  other  sex.  "We  read  in  a  letter  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Brute  to  Bishop  Flaget,  on  the  15  th  of  April,  1812  : 
"  Two  Irish  priests  have  just  arrived  at  New  York  ;  one  of  them 
of  great  merit,  the  archbishop  says.  With  these  two  gentlemen 
came  three  Ursulines  for  Mr.  Kohlmann,  who  wished  to  found  a 


U 


Protestant  and  Roman  Churches,  by  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Wharton,  D.  D.  New 
York,  1817." 

*  "  A  Brief  Reply  to  a  Short  Answer  to  a  True  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Catholic  Church  touching  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  by  S.  F.  O' Gal- 
lagher.    New  York,  1815." 

In  1798,  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Gallagher,  a  native  of  Dublin,  was  sent  to 
Charleston  by  Bishop  Carroll,  and  Bishop  England  calls  him  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinary eloquence,  of  a  superior  intellect,  and  finely  cultivated  mind. 
**  While  zealously  exercising  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  was  obliged  to 
teach  for  his  support.  In  the  Life  of  the  celebrated  Attorney-general,  Hugh 
Swinton  Legare,  it  is  related  that  no  competent  Latin  teacher  could  be 
found  for  this  descendant  of  the  Huguenots  but  Dr.  O'Gallagher.  This 
missionary  was  sent  to  Savannah  in  1817,  and  so\ne  years  after  went  to 
Louisiana."  Bishop  England's  Works,  iii.  251.  Wiitings  of  Hugh  Swinton 
Legare,  i.  xii. 


376 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


a 


J 
"I 


l 


f! 


convent  with  them."  These  three  religious,  i*med  Christina 
Fagan  (Sister  Mary  Ann),  Superior,  Sarah  Walsh  (Sister  Frances 
de  Chantal),  and  Mary  Baldwin  (Sister  Mary  Paul),  are  the  first 
who  have  resided  in  the  diocese  of  New  York.  They  came  from 
the  celebrated  Blackrock  convent  at  Cork,  in  Ireland,  and  were 
obtained  by  Father  Kohlmann  through  Father  Betagh,  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  notwithstanding  the  short  duration  of  their  establish- 
ment, which  did  not  exceed  three  years,  they  deserve  that  we 
should  give  a  brief  account  of  their  too  little  known  Institute. 

From  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  by  Henry  VIII.  till 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Ireland  possessed,  so  to 
say,  no  religious  community  of  women ;  and,  as  is  known,  all 
Catholic  teaching  was  forbidden,  under  the  severest  penalties. 
About  1*760,  a  holy  young  woman,  Miss  Nano  Nagle,*  toucned 
at  the  wants  of  the  people,  resolved  to  devote  herself  to  the  edu 
cation  of  poor  children,  and  secretly  opened  schools,  first  at  Dub- 
lin, and  afterwards  at  Cork.  Some  companions  joined  her  in 
this  good  work ;  but,  to  give  it  permanence,  it  was  necessary  to 
bind  them  by  the  vows  of  religion,  and  following  the  advice  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Moylan,f  afterwards  Bishop  of  Cork,  four  of  them 
set  out  for  Paris,  to  make  their  novitiate  with  the  Ursulines  at 
St.  Jacques.  They  began  it  on  the  5th  of  September,  1*769,  and 
on  the  18th  of  September,  17*71,  took  possession  of  the  house 


*  Miss  Nano  Nagle,  born  at  Ballygriffln,  on  the  banks  of  the  Black- 
wator,  in  1728,  belonged  to  a  distinguished  Irish  family.  She  died  April 
26,  1784. 

+  Colonel  Moylan,  aid-de-camp  to  Washington  during  the  Eevolutionary 
War,  was  brother  of  this  bishop.  Washington  attached  him,  for  a  time,  to 
the  person  of  the  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  mujor-goneral  in  Rochambeau's 
army ;  and  the  marquis  says,  in  his  memoirs,  "  Colonel  Moylan  is  a  Catholic. 
One  of  his  brothers  is  Bishop  of  Cork,  another  a  merchant  at  Cadiz,  a  third 
a  merchant  at  L'Orient,  a  fourth  at  home,  and  a  fifth  studying  for  the  priest- 
hood." The  Bishop  of  Cork  had  also  a  sister,  Miss  Louisa  Moylan,  who 
was  the  first  to  join  the  Ursulines  on  their  arrival  at  Cork  in  1771,  where  she 
died  in  1842,  ab  the  age  of  ninety. 


^ 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


377 


ack- 
[.pril 

pry 
to 

[lio. 
lird 
}st.- 
tho 
Ihe 


which  had  been  prepared  for  their  reception  at  Cork.  It  was 
not,  however,  till  1779  that  they  ventured  to  assume  the  habit 
of  their  order,  so  great  was  the  dread  of  the  penal  laws  under 
which  Ireland  then  groaned. 

Miss  Nagle  had  not  accompanied  her  companions  to  France, 
but  had  continued  to  direct  her  schools  in  Ireland,  and  on  the 
return  of  the  young  Ursulines  to  Cork,  joined  the  community  of 
Avhich  she  is  regarded  as  the  foundress.  She  soon,  however,  per- 
ceived that  her  vocation  called  her  to  devote  herself  exclusively 
to  poor  children,  while  the  Institute  of  the  Ursulines  undertakes 
principally  the  education  of  the  more  wealthy  classes.  Miss 
Nagle  accordingly  left  the  Ursulines,  and  recvuited  new  auxilia- 
ries, who  became,  with  her,  the  root  of  the  Presentation  order. 
It  was  only  after  her  death,  and  in  September,  1791,  that  Pope 
Pius  VI.  approved  the  object  of  the  Institute,  and  recognized  its 
existence.  That  of  the  Ursulines  had  been  approved  by  Pope 
Clement  XIV.,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1773  ;  so  that  the  same 
lady  has  the  glory  of  having  founded  two  communities  which 
now  cover  Ireland  with  convents,  and  which  have  more  than 
twenty  thousand  girls  in  their  academies  and  schools.* 

The  Ursulines  of  New  York  were  incorporated  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1814,  and  even  prior  to 
that,  they  had  opened  an  academy  and  poor-school.  But  they 
had  come  to  America  on  the  express  condition,  that  if  in  three 
years  they  did  not  receive  a  certain  number  of  novices,  they 
should  return  to  Ireland.  The  Catholics  were  poor,  vocations 
few,  and  among  the  young  women  who  would  have  entered, 
none  could  furnish  the  dowry  required  by  the  Ursulines.     They 

*  The  Life  of  Miss  Nano  Nagle,  Foundress  of  the  Presentation  order,  by 
the  late  Riglit  Kev.  Dr.  Coppinger,  Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  Ross :  Dublin, 
1843.  Dublin  Review  for  1844,  p.  863-386.  There  were  in  Ireland,  in  1844, 
four  Ursuline  convents,  and  thirty  of  the  Order  of  the  Presentation ;  and 
the  number  baa  greatly  increased  there  and  in  the  colonies  siuec. 


378 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


accordingly;  left  New  York  .it  the  expinition  of  the  term  fixed 
upon,  and  it  was  not  till  1855  that  religious  of  the  same  order, 
coming  from  St.  Louis,  restored  to  the  diocese  of  New  York  the 
daughters  of  St.  Angela.  The  convent  of  1812  was  situated 
near  the  Third  Avenue,  about  50th-street,  and  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Iluddard,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  as  a 
boarding-school.* 

The  Ursulines  had  for  some  time  as  chaplains  the  Trappist 
leathers,  of  whom  we  have  spoken ;  but  the  stay  of  these  sons 
of  St.  Bernard  was  only  temporary.  The  storm  of  persecution 
drove  them  to  the  New  World;  and  when  the  tempest  had 
spent  its  fury,  they  returned  to  the  European  monasteries  from 
■which  they  had  boen  driven.  In  1*791,  the  French  Government 
having  seized  the  property  of  the  monks  of  La  Trappe,f  twenty- 
four  of  the  religious,  guided  by  Dom  Augustine,  sought  a  refuge 
at  Val  Sainte,  in  the  canton  of  Fribourg,  where  they  were  nobly 
welcomed  by  the  cantonal  authorities.  They  arrived  there  on 
the  1st  of  June,  1791,  and  under  the  able  administration  of  Dom 
Augustiu'^,  they  had  gathered  their  brethren,  dispersed  by  the 
Keign  of  Terror,  and  sent  colonies  in  various  directions,  when 
the  invasion  of  Switzerland  by  a  French  army  compelled  the 
Trappists  to  abandon  in  all  haste  their  holy  asylum,  in  the 
month  of  February,  1798.  They  wandered  in  various  parts  of 
Bavaria  and  Austria,  without  finding  a  spot  to  rest  their  weary 


i 

■i 


M» 


':    ,    I 


*  The  Ursulino  order  was  founded  in  1537,  at  Brescia,  diocese  of  Verona, 
by  Angela  Merici,  born  in  1511,  at  Dezenzano,  on  tlie  Lago  de  Garda.  She 
died  in  1540,  and  was  canonized  in  1807.  She  put  her  spiritual  daughters 
under  the  protection  of  St.  Ursula,  who  had,  about  450,  governed  so  many 
virgins,  and  led  them  to  martyrdom. 

■••  The  Abbey  of  Our  Lady  of  La  Trappe  is  situated  in  the  department  of 
Orne,  near  Mortaqne.  Founded  in  the  year  1140,  and  occupied  by  monks  of 
the  Order  of  Citeaux,  it  was  reformed,  in  1662,  by  the  Abbe  de  Banco.  The 
name  of  La  Trappe  has  since  been  given  to  all  the  monasteries  which  have 
adopted  the  reform  of  Abbe  de  Eance.  In  1791  there  were  at  La  Trappe 
fifty-five  choir  monks  and  thirty-seven  lay-brothers. 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


379 


when 

1 

i  the 

.i 

1  the 
•ts  of 

1 

*^eary 

i 

jrona, 

She 

■P 

rhters 

i 

many 

ent  of 

1 

iksof 

m 

The 

fl 

have 

1 

rappe 

m 

heads,  till  at  last  the  Empero"  Paul  I.  promised  thorn  hospitality 
in  his  States,  and  the  courageous  monks  arrived  in  Russia  iu 
August,  1799.  But  their  quiet  was  not  to  be  of  long  duration. 
The  following  year,  the  Czar  issued  a  ukase,  ordering  all  French 
emigrants  to  leave  his  States,  and  the  Trappists  resumed  their 
route  on  the  13th  of  April,  1800.  Austria  closed  its  frontiers  to 
Dom  Augustine  and  his  companions ;  they  had  humbly  to  ask 
a  refuge  from  Protestant  Prussia,  which  temporarily  granted  tho 
favor  so  brutally  refused  by  Catholic  Austria.  Then  it  was  that 
the  Trappists  resolved  to  seek  an  asylum  in  America;  and  a 
party  of  them,  under  the  guidance  of  Father  Urban  Guillet,  em- 
barked at  Amsterdam  for  Baltimore  on  the  29th  of  May,  1803. 
They  arrived  on  the  4th  of  September,  and  after  a  brief  sojourn 
at  Pigeon  Hill,  in  Pennsylvania,  set  out  for  Kentucky  in  the 
inonti\  of  July,  1805.  The  story  of  their  labors  in  that  State 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis  will  find  its  place,  in  due 
time,  in  another  part  of  this  history. 

Meanwhile,  the  horizon  cleared  for  a  moment  on  the  Trappists 
in  Europe.  The  deliverance  of  Switzerland,  in  1804,  soon  per- 
mitted the  monks  to  return  to  Val  Sainte,  and  in  1805  Napo- 
leon granted  them  authority  to  establish  themselves  in  his  em- 
pire. Mount  Valerian,  which  rises  at  the  gates  of  Paris,  soon 
beheld  a  monastery  of  this  austere  order  arise,  and  the  disper- 
sion caused  by  the  Reign  of  Terror  seemed  repaired ;  but  when 
the  emperor  began  to  persecute  and  imprison  the  Pope,  he  could 
not  find  accomplices  in  the  fervent  disciples  of  the  Abbe  de 
Ranee. 

In  1810,  Dom  Aiigustine  having  made  his  monks  solemnly 
retract  the  oath  of  fidelity  taken  to  the  constitution  of  the  em- 
pire, Napoleon,  provoked  at  the  step,  ordered  all  the  houses  of 
ija  Trappe  to  be  closed,  and  the  courageous  abbot  to  be  tried  by 
court-martial.  Dom  Augustine  would  have  been  shot,  but  he 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  Switzerland ;  and  thence,  traversing  Ger* 


380 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHUIICII 


many,  pursued  by  the  imperial  police,  embarked  at  Riga  for 
England,  and  then  at  London  for  the  United  States.  There  ho 
found  a  second  colony  of  Trappists  awaiting  him.  Father  Vin- 
cent of  Paul,  Superior  of  the  house  at  Bordeaux,  had  left  France 
with  two  monks  and  one  Trappist  nun,  on  the  closing  of  the  con- 
vents in  1810,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  6th  of  August,  1811. 

Bishop  Cheverus  received  them  with  his  usual  goodness — 
lodged  them  in  his  house,  and  offered  them  a  generous  hospi- 
tality as  long  as  they  stayed  at  Boston.  Father  Vincent  trav- 
elled to  several  parts  to  find  a  suitable  abode,  and  choose  among 
the  lands  offered  to  him.  Pennsylvania  presented  nothing  to 
suit  him,  and  at  last,  with  others  of  the  brethren  from  Europe, 
he  installed  himself  at  Port  Tobacco,  in  Maryland,  on  a  tract 
selected  by  the  Archbishop  and  the  Sulpitians  of  Baltimore. 
The  Trappists  immediately  began  their  agricultural  labors,  which 
were  interrupted  by  disease ;  and  these  trials  obliged  them  to 
retire  to  Baltimore,  where  the  venerable  Abbe  Moranvill6,  pas- 
tor of  St.  Patricks,  showed  them  the  most  generous  hospitality. 

Towards  the  close  of  1813,  Dom  Augustine  arrived  at  New 
York,  and  resolved  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the  neighborhood 
of  that  city.  He  accordingly  ordered  Father  Urban  to  leave 
Missouri,  and  join  him  at  New  York.  Father  Vincent  de  Paul 
received  the  same  instructions,  and  ere^  long  all  the  American 
Trappists  were  united  in  a  single  community.  Dom  Augustine 
purchased  for  ten  thousand  dollars  a  large  piece  of  property, 
and  gave  the  house  the  form  of  an  abbey.  "  Thirty-one  poor 
children,  almost  all  orphans,  there  found  instruction  and  the 
necessaries  of  life.  A  community  of  Trappist  nuns  was  founded 
by  the  same  zeal,  and  supported  by  the  same  vigilance.  Finally, 
at  three  or  four  miles  distance,  was  an  Ursuline  convent,  which 
derived  great  advantage  from  the  arrival  of  Dom  Augustine. 
These  holy  sisters  had  no  priest  to  attend  them  ;  the  persecution 
wnich  drove  the  Trappists  from  the  French  empire  gave  them 


■i 


>5 


-  -t? 


-•0 


I 

■i 

,1, 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


381 


■3 
'I 


'3» 


V* 


many.  Omnia  propter  electos^*  Father  Viucent  de  Paul  was 
appointed  to  go  there  every  Sunday  and  holiday  to  hear  confes- 
sions and  say  Mass. 

The  Trappist  nuns,  Avho  also  had  a  temporary  establishment 
at  New  York,  were  founded  in  1780,  in  Bas  Valais,  by  Dom 
Augustine.  This  holy  abbot,  seeing  that  a  host  of  nuns  of  va- 
rious orders  had  been  driven  from  France  for  their  fidelity  to 
their  vows,  resolved  to  gather  these  fragments  of  other  insti- 
tutes scattered  in  a  foreign  land.  Under  the  new  name  of 
Trappist  nuns,  he  reconstituted  the  Cistercian  nuns ;  and  as 
Humbeline,  Sister  of  St.  Bernard,  had,  by  her  example,  induced 
the  convent  of  GruUy  to  embrace  the  observance  of  Citeaux,  so 
Mademoiselle  Lestrange  generously  seconded  the  zeal  and  pro- 
jects of  her  brother.  The  austerities  of  the  rule,  moreover,  al- 
lured the  Princess  Louise  Adelaide  de  Conde,  who  became  the 
Trappist  Sister  Mary  Joseph  ;  and  her  vocation  was  most 
precious  to  the  whole  order  of  La  Trappe ;  for  it  was  purely 
from  respect  for  this  grand-daughter  of  Louis  XV.  that  the  Czar 
permitted  the  fugitive  Trappists  to  rest  in  his  States.  In  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  this  period,  the  nuns  of  La  Trappe  felt  ever  / 
blow  directed  against  the  monks ;  and  in  this  way  several  of  the 
Sisters  sought  refuge  at  New  York. 

Meanwhile,  the  fall  of  Napoleon  opened  France  to  the  Trap- 
pists, at  the  same  time  that  it  delivered  the  Church.  Dom  Au- 
gustine availed  himself  of  the  moment  to  restore  to  his  native 
land  the  order  of  St.  Bernard,  convinced  that  his  efforts  would 
be  more  successful  in  the  Old  Word.  Leaving  Father  Vincent 
de  Paul,  with  six  brothers,  to  wind  up  their  affairs  in  New  York, 
he  embarked  for  Havre  in  October,  1814,  with  twelve  monks, 
the  Sisters,  and  pupils.     Father  Urban  Guillet  sailed  at  the 


*  Les  Trappistes  on  TOrdre  de  Citeaux  au  XIX.  Siecle,  par  Casimir  Gaillar- 
diii,  ii.  886.  ■• 


,1 


• 


382 


THE  CATHOLIC  CIIUUCH 


same  tiino  for  RocliolK',  with  fifteen  monks;  and  in  tlio  tbllow- 
iug  May  tlie  rest  set  sail  for  Halifax,  whence  they  prooeedeJ  to 
France,  liy  an  accident,  however,  Father  Vincent  de  Paul  was 
left  on  shore,  and  founded  La  Trappe  at  Tracadie,  in  Nova  Sco- 
tia.* During  their  stay  in  the  United  States,  the  Trappist  nuns 
had  formed  several  novices ;  but  as  these  preferred  not  to  leave 
the  country,  they  obtained  entrance  among  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
through  the  influence  of  Rev.  Mr.  Moranville.f  The  monks, 
too,  had  accessions ;  among  others,  a  pastor  from  Canada,  who 
took  the  name  of  Father  Mary  l-Jernard,  and  who  efiected  much 
good  in  the  West  by  his  preaching.^ 

Thus  did  the  long  vacancy  of  the  See  from  1810  to  1815  de- 
feat the  establishment  of  the  Dominicans,  Ursulincs,  and  Trap- 
pists.  Doubtless,  had  a  bishop  then  watched  over  the  interests 
of  the  diocese,  religion  would  have  prospered  much  sooner,  and 
the  prelate  would  have  taken  measures  to  secure  the  communi- 
ties which  had  already  planted  their  tents  there.  Napoleon,  by 
persecuting  the  Church  and  imprisoning  the  Holy  Father,  caused 
fatal  delay  in  the  election  of  Bishop  Concanen's  successor ;  and 
if  a  single  diocese,  so  remote  from  the  centre  of  Christianity, 
had  so  much  to  suffer  from  the  emperor's  invasion  of  the  riglits 
of  the  Holy  See,  we  may  conceive  their  deplorable  effects  on 
the  whole  Christian  world. 


*  Louis  Henri  do  Lcstrange  (Dom  Augustine)  was  born  in  Vivarais,  in 
1754,  and  on  liis  nomination  as  coadjutor  to  the  Ar'^libishop  of  Vionne,  in 
1780,  retired  to  La  Trappe,  to  become  tlie  saviour  c .'  the  order  during  the 
revohition,  and  founder  of  the  Trappist  nuns.  He  died  at  Lyons,  July 
16,  1827. 

t  Sister  Mary  Joseph  Llewellyn  and  Sister  Scholastica  Bean,  of  Emnicts- 
burg,  had  been  Trappist  nuns.  Another,  unable  to  remain  at  Enuuetsburg, 
from  ill  health,  still  survives. 

J  Louis  Antoine  Langlois  Germain,  born  at  Quebec,  November  25,  1767, 
■vas  ordained  in  1791,  and  successively  acted  as  Curate  of  Ciuebec,  Pastor 
of  Isle  aux  Coudres,  and  Chaplain,  Director  of  the  Ursulincs,  In  1806,  he 
joined  the  Trappists  at  Baltimore,  and  died  on  the  28tli  of  November,  1810, 
in  high  reputo  for  sanctity  and  austerity. 


k 


A 


'4 


IN  TUB   UNITED  STATES. 


3S3 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

DIOCESE    OF    NEW   YORK — (1815-1842). 


Irais,  in 
Inne,  in 
Jng  the 
is,  July 

Inniets- 
bturg, 

,  1767, 

iPustor 

BOG,  he 

,  1810, 


iW 


RIttht  Rov.  John  Connolly,  Bpcond  Bishop  of  N*w  York— Condition  of  the  (Jloflcse— 
Sketch  of  tho  Kov.  P.  A.  Malou— Bishop  Connolly's  first  acts— Ills  clergy— The  Eov. 
Mr  Taylor,  and  his  ambitious  dcslRns— Conversions— Tho  Rev.  John  Richard— Spread 
of  Catholicity— Death  of  Bishop  Connolly— Very  Rov,  John  Power,  Administrator- 
Right  Rov.  John  Dubois,  third  Bishop  of  New  York— Vlsitsllon  of  his  diocese— Hl« 
labors  for  the  cause  of  education— Controversies  with  the  Protestants— Very  Rev. 
Felix  Varela— Rov.  Thomas  C.  Levins— Dlfflcultles  with  trustees— German  immigra- 
tion—Conversion of  Rev.  Maximilian  (Ertel — Appointment  of  a  Coai\)utor— Death 
of  Bishop  Dubois. 

The  Society  of  Jesus,  during  tho  period  in  which  the  affairs  of 
New  York  had  been  committed  to  its  care,  had  hibored  with  all 
the  zeal  which  is  characteristic  of  its  sous ;  and  nothing  but  tho 
prolonged  absence  of  a  bishop  and  their  own  want  of  subjects 
had  prevented  their  establishing  foundations  of  permanent  good. 
A  second  bishop  had  now  been  appointed  to  the  See  of  New 
York,  and  tho  Fathers  at  that  city  only  awaited  his  arrival  to 
return  to  Maryland,  where  their  order  greatly  needed  their  co- 
operation. 

The  choice  of  the  Holy  Father  again  fell  on  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic,  and  he  chose  Father  John  Connolly,  then,  like  his  pred- 
ecessor, Prior  of  St.  Clement's,  to  organize  the  new  diocese  of 
New  York.  The  Right  Rev.  John  Connolly  was  born  on  the 
banks  of  the  Boyne,  near  Navan,  in  1750,  and  was  educated  in 
Belgium.  At  an  early  age  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  there 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  the  convents  of  his  order.  He  was  for 
many  years  the  agent  of  the  Irish  bishops,  and  filled  ^'ariou8 
chairs  as  professor.     So  great  was  his  knowledge  of  divinity  and 


■t~-^- 


S84 


THE  CATHOLIC  CilUKCU 


i 


BiKToil  learning,  that  ho  was  sclcctccl  by  tlio  Cardinal  IVishop  of 
All)ano  as  (lui  exuminor  of  can<liilates  fur  tlu)  priesthood.  In  all 
tlieso  varied  duties  ho  displayed  tho  greatest  ability  and  virtue, 
and  is  still  remembered  by  his  pupils — and  many  of  them  havo 
been  eminent  in  the  Church — as  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
mildness  and  gentleness  of  character.  His  predecessor,  as  wo 
liave  seen,  had  mado  in(juiries  as  to  the  state  of  tho  diocese,  and 
its  posf^ibility  of  supporting.  Bishop  Connolly  seems  to  have 
obeyed  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and  assumed  cheerfully  tho  burden 
of  tho  episcopate.  Yet,  for  a  man  of  nearly  seventy,  it  was  a 
weight  far  too  heavy.  lie  could,  indeed,  still  inspire  respect  by 
liis  learning  and  piety,  but  all  the  vigor  of  his  younger  days  was 
needed  for  the  arduous  task  of  bringing  into  system  and  order 
the  unorganized  elements  of  an  American  Church,  where  all, 
clergy  and  laity  alike,  seemed  in  those  days  equally  restive  of 
control.  He  was  appointed  in  the  fall  of  1814,  and  was  conse- 
crated on  tho  0th  of  November  that  year.  Having  mado  some 
preparations,  he  left  his  peaceful  abode  in  the  Eternal  City  in  the 
raonth  of  January,  1815,  and  set  out  to  take  possession  of  his 
diocese.  On  his  way,  he  visited  his  native  island,  and  bid  an 
eternal  farewell  to  all  his  kindred  ;  for  he  resolved  on  no  consid- 
eration to  have  about  or  near  him  a  single  relative.  To  secure 
the  nucleus  of  a  clergy,  he  apparently  applied  to  Kilkenny  Col- 
lege for  some  aspirants  to  holy  orders,  and  obtained  tho  Rev. 
Michael  O'Gorman,  whom  he  ordained  and  brought  with  him. 
After  this,  he  set  sail  from  Dublin,  but  his  voyage  was  long  and 
dangerous,  and  only  after  being  tossed  about  for  sixty-seven  days 
did  he  reach  the  city  of  Now  York,  where  all  supposed  that 
Providence  had  again  deprived  them  of  a  chief  pastor. 

The  diocese  of  which  Bishop  Connolly  took  possession,  early 
in  1816,  comprised  the  State  of  New  York  and  part  of  that  of 
New  Jersey.  Over  this  space  were  scattered  some  thirteen  thou- 
sand Catholics,  with  three  Jesuit  Fathers  and  one  secular  priest, 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


385 


.)p  of 
In  all 
irtuo, 
luvvo 
liniiry 

ttS    NVO 

e,  and 
)  have 
jurdeu 

WU9   ft 

ect  by 

tys  was 

I  order 

ere  all, 

stive  of 

I  conse- 

ie  some 
in  the 
of  bis 
bid  an 
consid- 
secure 
ly  Col- 
le  Rev. 
bitn. 
mg  and 
[en  days 
led  tbat 

In,  early 
tbat  of 


i 


■I 
I 


kn 


tbou- 
priest, 


the  Rev.  Mr.  (^'arliorry,  as  the  hoIo  rcprosonlativos  of  the  clergy. 
Now  York  hud,  in<l(.'(!cl,  two  churches,  All)any  another;  but  these 
were  the  only  shrines  of  religion.  Two  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
were  soon  after  rccidlcd,  and  the  Rov.  Mr.  Carberry  proceeded  to 
Norfolk ;  so  that  most  of  the  missionary  labors  devolved  on  the 
good  bishop,  who  unmurmuringly  assumed  the  duties  of  a  parish 
priest. 

The  Jesuit  who  renuvincd,  and  after  leaving  the  order,  died  at 
last  in  the  city  of  Now  York,  was  the  Rev.  Peter  A.  Malou,  whose 
history  is  so  varied,  that  we  cannot  forbear  giving  it  at  some 
length.  Peter  Anthony  Malou,  born  at  Y'pres,  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Peter's,  on  the  9th  of  October,  lYSS,  was  always  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  faith  ;  but  at  first  experienced  no  vocation  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state,  and  on  the  2d  of  Juno,  1777,  married,  at  Brus- 
sels, Mademoiselle  Marie  Louise  Riga.  By  this  marriage  he  had 
two  sons,  the  elder  of  whom,  John  Baptist  Malou,  is  now  senator 
of  the  kingdom  of  Belgium.  The  latter  bad  six  children,  one  of 
whom  has  been  Minister  of  the  Finances,  and  another  is  Mon- 
seigneur  John  Baptist  Malou,  Bishop  of  Bruges,  universally  known 
by  his  solid  and  learned  works.  It  is  well  known  that  in  1786  the 
Belgians,  driven  to  extremity  by  the  religious  innovations  of  the 
emperor,  Joseph  II.,  rose  against  their  oppressor,  and  after  many 
years  of  parliamentary  struggle  and  bloody  combats,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  expelling  the  Austrian  troops  from  the  country.  On 
the  26th  of  December,  1789,  the  States  of  Brabant  solemnly 
declared  their  independence  ;  and  Catholic  Belgium  would  have 
been  constituted  at  that  period,  forty  years  prior  to  the  revolu- 
tion of  1830,  had  not  France  treacherously  invaded  the  country 
in  1792,  under  the  pretext  of  protecting  it  against  the  attacks  of 
the  emperor.  In  this  heroic  resistance,  inspired  by  the  purest 
attachment  to  the  faith,  the  pupils  of  the  theological  seminary  at 
Louvain  gave  the  example  to  the  people,  and  rose  on  the  7th  of 
December,  17  80,  because  the  emperor  wished  to  force  upon  them 

17 


If  r^ 


88G 


THE    CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


III 


='  'I 


professors  imbued  with  Josephine  principles,  and  the  theological 
works  of  Dr.  Eiybal,  which  had  been  condemned  at  Rome. 
When  Peter  Malou  saw  the  emperor  closing  the  seminaries,  dis- 
persing religious,  seizing  the  property  of  the  Church,  everywhere 
fomenting  a  spirit  of  revolt  against  the  Holy  See,  and  forbidding 
all  communication  between  the  clergy  and  Rome  ;*  when  he  saw 
that  Joseph  II.  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of 
Catholicity  in  his  States,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  move- 
ment with  an  ardent  patriotism,  and  played  a  very  important 
part  in  negotiation  and  on  the  field  of  battle.  He  was  repeatedly 
intrusted  with  the  most  delicate  missions  by  the  States  of  Flan- 
ders, which  then  governed  the  country ;  and  maintained  a  very 
active  correspondence  with  the  chiefs  of  the  movement  in  the 
other  provinces.  Having  become  general,  he  traversed  West 
Flanders  to  enrol  volunteers,  and  organized  an  array  :  he  equip- 
ped several  companies  at  his  own  expense,  and  gave  his  estate 
and  his  person  in  defence  of  the  cause  of  his  country  and 
Church. 

When  the  National  Convention  of  France  menaced  Belgium 
Avith  a  republican  invasion.  General  Peter  Malou  was  sent  to 
Paris  by  the  States  of  Flanders,  and  boldly  appeared  before  that 
terrible  assembly.  He  solicited  at  least  delay,  for  it  would  have 
been  useless  to  ask  more ;  and  he  besought  the  French  govern- 
ment to  defer  the  violent  measures  which  had  been  decreed. 
This  dangerous  appeal  was  made  on  the  27th  of  January,  1793, 
six  days  after  the  infamous  execution  of  Louis  XVI.;  and  so 


M 


*  Coxe's  House  of  Austria,  v,  362,  This  author,  a  Protestant  clergyman, 
attests  the  good  government  of  the  Belgian  provinces,  and  blames  Joseph 
II.  for  seeking  to  destroy  their  religious  institutions.  "  In  spite  of  the 
power  and  immunities  of  the  clergy,  no  country  in  Europe  possessed  a 
denser  population,  more  opulent  cities,  or  more  widely  diffused  happiness. 
These  are  incontestable  proofs  that  the  government  was  not,  in  general, 
badly  administered,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  adapted  to  the  geniiw 
and  manners  of  the  people." 


A  i^' 


loincal 
Rome. 
es,  dis- 
ywhere 
bidding 
he  saw 
jtion  of 
3  move- 
iportant 
jeatedly 
of  Flau- 
l  a  very 
t  in  the 
id  West 
le  equip- 
lis  estate 
^try   and 

3elgmm 
sent  to 

tore  that 

uld  have 
govern- 
decreed. 

ry,  1193, 
and  so 


llcrgyman, 
lea  Joseph 
^ite  of  the 
Dssessed  a 
lappineaa. 
in  general, 
jtbe  geniun 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


387 


■ 


1 


plainly  did  he  show  the  injustice  of  the  Convention,  that  the 
Moniteur  gave  only  a  mutilated  version  of  his  speech.  It  is  to  bo 
found  in  full  in  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly  of  West  Flanders,  as  the  historian  Borgnet  notes.'* 
The  correspondence  of  Mr.  Malou  attests  that  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  who  had  treated  the  other  speakers  with  revolution- 
ary coarseness,  showed  him  much  courtesy,  and  even  kindness. 
His  generous  efforts  were,  however,  fruitless.  The  Convention 
had  resolved  to  invade  Belgium,  in  order  to  find  in  its  plun- 
der means  of  continuing  war ;  and  n'-«  arguments  could  prevail 
against  such  a  decision.  In  consequence  of  these  discussions, 
Mr.  Peter  Malou  was  brought  into  contact  with  the  most  cele- 
brated men  in  Europe.  He  was  in  active  correspondence  with 
General  Dumouriez,  -with  Merlin  of  Douai,  and  other  renowned 
conventionists.  In  a  letter  of  Merlin's  to  the  deputies  of  West 
Flanders,  we  find  this  familiar  expression — "Your  famous  Malou" — 
which  attests  and  depicts  the  position  which  the  future  Jesuit  had 
assumed  among;  his  follow-citizens. 

Mr.  Malou  had  opposed  with  all  his  energy  the  French  inva- 
sion. On  the  approach  of  the  armies,  he  had  to  become  an  exile, 
and  retired  to  Hamburg,  whence  he  wrote  an  apology  of  his 
conduct,  in  reply  to  the  unjust  accusations  which  always  pursue 
misfortune.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  month  of 
July,  1795,  intending  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  emigration  of 
his  family.  But  during  this  voyage  he  had  the  affliction  of  losing 
his  wife,  who  died  at  Hamburg  on  the  18th  of  December,  1797, 
and  he  returned  to  Europe  in  1799.     The  destruction  of  his  hap- 


*  Ilistoirc  dcs  Belies  au  fin  da  XVIII.  Sieele,  par  Mr.  Borgiiot.  Bnis- 
scls,  1844,  ii.  141.  This  author  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  tlie  political 
conduct  of  General  Malou.  Feller,  in  his  "  Journal  Hiptorique  et  Litteraire" 
of  August  1,  1790,  published  an  address  of  Mr.  Malou  to  tlie  patriot  volun- 
teers. The  proceedings  already  cited  contain  several  of  the  speeches, 
proclamations,  and  a  part  of  the  correspondence  of  this  brave  defender  of 
his  country. 


;  ■(       I 


388 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


il 
»? 


piness  gave  another  turn  to  his  thoughts,  and  in  1801  he  re- 
solved to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state.  In  October  he  entered 
the  Seminary  of  Wolsau,  in  Franconia,  where  he  received  minor 
orders.  Then,  in  1805,  he  presented  himself,  under  an  assumed 
name,  at  the  novitiate  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Dunaburg,  in 
White  Russia,  and  humbly  asked  admission  as  a  lay  brother. 
Zealously  employed  in  the  lowly  task  of  gardening.  Brother 
Malou  was  recognized  by  a  visitor,  who  informed  the  Superior  of 
his  real  name  ;  and  the  ex-gencral  was  obliged  to  take  upon  him 
more  important  functions.  He  was  the  model  of  the  community 
in  fervor,  humility,  and  perfect  obedience.  In  1811,  he  was  sent 
as  a  missionary  to  America,  and  arrived  Avith  P'ather  Maximilian 
de  Rantzau.  Attached  at  first  to  the  New  York  Literary  Insti- 
tution, he  was  afterwards  one  of  the  piiests  at  St.  Peter's,  and 
died  in  New  York  on  the  13th  of  October,  1827,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-four.  His  last  days  were  embittered  by  the  ingratitude 
of  the  trustees  :  feeble  in  health,  and  suffering  from  lameness,  he 
was  an  object  rather  of  their  reverent  care ;  but  in  order  to  com- 
pel him  to  leave,  they  applied  to  the  Superior  of  his  order  at 
Georgetown,  who,  however,  declined  to  act  on  their  request,  re- 
ferring them  to  the  bishop.  Dr.  Connolly  at  last  yielded  to  their 
importunity,  and  requested  his  recall.  Deeply  grieved  at  this, 
to  him,  apparently  unkind  treatment,  the  aged  priest  asked  to 
withdraw  from  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  remained  in  New  York, 
awaiting  means  from  Europe  for  his  support.*  In  1825,  the  Su- 
periors invited  him  to  return ;  but,  from  motives  which  satisfied 
the  general  of  the  order,  he  preferred  to  remain  a  secular  priest. 
He  was  an  exemplary  missionary,  loving  poverty  and  the  poor, 
and  devoting  himself  to  the  service  of  the  sick,  to  whom  he  gave 


r$ 


*  For  ti.ose  facts  we  are  indebted  to  extraeta  of  letters  furnished  by  the 
kindness  of  the  Abb6  J.  B.  Ferland,  of  Quebec,  whose  historical  labors  en- 
able him  to  throw  great  light  on  our  Church  lilstory,  and  whose  courtesy 
and  kindness  to  fellow-laborers  are  beyond  expression. 


AS 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


389 


he  re- 
entered 
L  inii\or 
issumed 
3urg,  in 
brother. 
Brother 
perior  of 
pon  him 
namunity 
was  sent 
aximilian 
ary  Insti- 
ter's,  and 
le  age  of 
iM-atitude 
leness,  ho 
ir  to  com- 
order  at 
■quest,  re- 
to  their 
at  this, 
asked  to 
ew  York, 
5,  the  Su- 
satisfied 
liar  priest, 
the  poor, 
he  gave 


ihed  by  the 
^1  labors  on- 
|se  courtesy 


all  that  he  had.  Political  troubles  had  wasted  the  great  fortune 
which  he  had  possessed  in  Belgium.  His  brother-in-law,  Cuuon 
Riga,  who  had  saved  the  wreck,  sent  him  a  trifling  pension,  in 
which  the  wretched  always  had  a  share.  He  also  took  a  gi'eat 
interest  in  the  schools,  which  he  often  visited,  questioning  the 
pupils,  to  observe  their  progress  ;  and  the  pupils  long  preserved 
their  veneration  for  Father  Malou,  and  told  their  children,  in  turn, 
how,  when  they  were  good,  he  would  show  them  his  snuff-box, 
on  which  was  painted  the  miniature  portrait  of  one  of  his  chil- 
dren. The  scholars  were  greatly  astonished  that  the  Jesuit 
Father  had  been  married ;  but  he  offered  God  in  sacrifice  the 
pain  of  being  separated  from  his  children.  He  left  them  as  a 
heritage  a  venerated  name,  and  the  example  of  his  ecclesiastical 
virtues ;  and  Catholic  Europe  knows  how  well  the  illustrious 
Bishop  of  Bruges  has  followed  in  his  steps.* 

Such  was  almost  the  only  priest  whom  the  bishop  had  to  rep- 
resent the  body  of  his  clergy;  but  he  zealously  assumed  the 
charge  of  his  immense  diocese,  and  endeavored  to  provide  for  its 
wants.  Remaining  himself  at  New  York,  he  dispatched  the 
Rev.  Mr.  O'Gorman  to  Albany  and  the  northern  parts  of  the 
State,  extending  his  visits  to  Cartliage,  where  a  church  was  soon 
erected  amid  a  Catholic  population,  and  saying  Mass  in  many 
parts  for  scattered  Catholics  who  had  not  seen  a  priest  for  years, 
and  whose  children  looked  on  the  service  of  the  Church  with 
amazement. 

On  investigating  the  state  of  his  diocese,  the  good  bishop  soon 
saw  a  work  of  difiiculty  before  him.  In  the  churches  that  ex- 
isted, he  found  every  thing  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  who  seemed 
to  have  very  little  idea  of  the  constitution  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  or  disposition  to  submit  to  it.     That  a  bishop  should  ap- 


*  We  have  been  so  happy  as  to  receive  from  Bishop  Malou  many  details 
as  to  the  political  lil'o  of  his  emiuent  grandfather. 


Yf 


I  ■: 


I 


S90 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


point  a  pastor  to  a  church,  seemed  to  thein  ridiculous ;  on  th( 
Protestant  principle,  they  themselves  looked  out  for  a  good 
preacher,  or  what  they  considered  such,  and  invited  him.  Bishop 
Connolly  was  immediately  called  upon  by  the  trustees  to  be  the 
channel  of  these  invitations.  Those  of  Albany  wished  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Corr,  of  Mary's  Lane  Chapel,  and  offered  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars a  year ;  two  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  in  New  York,  desired  to 
have  as  their  pastor  Father  William  V.  Ilarold,  then  at  St. 
Thomas's  College,  near  Dublin,  offering  to  pay  his  passage  and 
settle  his  salary  when  ho  came.  Other  trustees  wished  him 
to  write  to  Ireland  for  Rev.  Messrs.  England  and  Taylor,  of 
Cloyne. 

We  find  these  scanty  notes  in  his  diary,*  but  we  do  not  know 
to  what  extent  he  acceded  to  their  wishes.  The  last  named  of 
these  clergymen  we  shall  soon  find  at  New  York,  and  giving  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  trustees  all  the  influence  he  possessed. 

The  good  bishop  sought  and  obtained  clergymen  with  whose 
abilities  and  principles  he  was  acquainted,  and  gathered  several 
young  aspirants  to  holy  orders,  who,  under  his  training,  became 
zealous  and  devoted  priests.  In  1817  and  1818  we  find  the  Rev. 
Arthur  Langdill  and  the  celebrated  Father  Charles  D.  Ffreucli 
in  the  active  discharge  of  the  ministry  in  his  diocese,  the  former 
at  Newburg,  and  generally  on  the  North  River,  except  at  New 
York  and  Albany ;  the  latter  at  New  York.  Father  Ffrench  was 
a  convert,  and  the  grandson  of  one  who  obtained  titles  and 
honors  from  the  English  government  in  1V98.  But  Avhile  the 
head  of  the  family  thus  assumed  the  badge  of  servitude  and 
treachery,  several  members  of  it  embraced  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of  their  Catholic  coun- 
trymen at  home  and  abroad.  Among  these  was  Father  Charles 
D.  Ffrencli,  who,  after  entering  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic  in 


*  See  Bishop  Baylcy's  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Churcli. 

* 


\ 


: 
i 


H 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


391 


on  the 

good 
Bishop 
be  tho 
ic  Rev. 
cd  dol- 
iired  to 

at  St. 
ffc  and 
kI  him 
f\ov,  of 

)t  know 

anied  of 

iving  to 

ssessed. 

li  whose 
several 
became 

the  Rev. 
Ffiench 

3  former 
at  New 

inch  was 
ties  and 
hile  the 
ude  and 
lie  faith, 
ic  coun- 
Chaiies 
minic  in 


Ireland,  came  to  Amevica,  and  attempted  to  establish  a  house 
of  his  order  at  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  then  subject  to  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec.  He  came  in  the  winter  of  181*7  to  New 
York,  where  he  had  relatives  among  the  most  influential  Catho- 
lics, and  was  soon  made  one  of  the  pastors  of  St.  Peter's;  but 
the  trustee  troubles  which  ensued  induced  him  to  leave,  and  he 
then  for  many  5'ears  labored  in  the  missions  of  Maine  and  other 
parts  of  New  England,  and  at  last  died  at  Lawrence,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, in  January,  I80I,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five 
years,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  priesthood.* 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  invited  by  the  trustees,  came  apparently 
in  1818,  and  soon  gave  the  trustee  encroachments  in  a  new  form. 
He  was  a  popular  preacher,  and  deeming  the  bishop  a  good  but 
incapable  man,  aspired  to  the  See  himself,  and  actually  formed  a 
party,  into  which  he  even  drew  some  of  the  clergy,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  have  Bishop  Connolly  recalled  and  himself  chosen. 
He  actually  went  to  Rome  to  efl:ect  this,  but  failed ;  and  as  the 
bishop  refused  to  receive  him,  he  proceeded  to  Boston,  where  ho 
gained  the  esteem  of  Bishop  Cheverus,  and  following  him  to 
France,  died  while  preaching  at  the  Irish  College  in  Paris,  in 
1828.t 

During  his  short  stay  in  New  York  he  mingled  much  in  Pro- 
testant society,  and  sought  to  remove  all  prejudice  from  their 
minds.  To  what  extent  he  carried  his  concession  may  be  seen 
by  a  prayer-book — "  The  Christian's  Monitor  ;  or.  Practical 
Guide  to  Future  Happiness" — which  he  compiled  and  published. 
This  book  is  remarkable  for  its  apologetic  notes,  and  still  more 
so  for  some  of  the  headings,  the  strangest  being  that  which 
reads,  "  The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  together  with  the 
Holy  Communion,  commonly  called  the  Mass !" 

*  Catliolic  Alinaimc,  1852,  p.  243. 

t  See  his  observations  on  Bishop  Hobart's  charge,  entitled  "  Corruptiona 
of  the  Church  oi'Konie,"  cited  by  Dr.  White  iu  his  Life  of  Mra.  Setoa. 


■n 


392 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Hopes  of  extensive  conversions  were  probably  entertained,  and 
were  not  unreasonable,  as  the  conversions  of  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Thayer,  Holmes,  and  Barber,  in  New  I'^ngland,  had  been  followed 
in  New  York  by  tliat  of  the  younger  Barber,  Kev.  Mr.  Richards, 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kewley,  rector  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  St.  George,  and  subsequently  of  the  Rev. 
George  Edmund  Ironside,  the  Inst  named  of  whom,  in  reply  to 
the  assaults  made  upon  him,  openly  defended  the  step  lie  had 
taken.  Bishop  Ilobart  himself,  the  Episcopalian  13ishop  of 
New  York,  repeatedly  expressed  a  wish  to  end  his  days  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  from  the  friendship 
which  subsisted  between  him  and  Bishop  Connolly,  hopes  were 
entertained  that  liis  visit  to  Rome,  with  letters  of  introduction 
from  Dr.  Connolly,  Avould  lead  to  liis  conversion.  This  grace, 
however,  in  the  designs  of  Providence,  was  reserved  for  his 
daughter,  the  god-child  of  Mother  Seton,  and  wife  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Levi  S.  Ives,  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  who  has  so  lately 
sacrificed  all  to  become  an  humble  member  of  the  flock  of  Peter. 

Of  the  earlier  converts,  Mr.  Kewley  returned  to  Iiis  native 
country,*  and  is  said  to  have  become  a  religious  in  Belgium. 
Mr.  John  Richards  was  in  1807  a  Methodist  clergyman,  zealously 
preaching  in  various  parts  of  Western  New  York.  In  order  to 
extend  his  sect  he  crossed  to  Upper  Canada,  and  finally,  in  Au- 
gust, 1807,  reached  Montreal.  Here,  in  his  zeal,  he  wished  to 
convert  the  Sulpitians  of  that  city,  and  waited  upon  thom  for 
that  purpose.  They  received  him  witli  the  utmost  courtesy,  and 
gave  him  books  explaining  the  Catholic  doctrines.  He  read 
them  attentively,  and  returned,  not  to  convert,  but  to  be  in- 
structed. For  several  months  he  was  closely  engaged  in  examin- 
ing the  grounds  of  the  Catholic  faith.  "As  I  progress,"  ho 
writes  in  his  diary,  "  the  truth  seems  to  me  more  clear,  so  that  I 

*  Stone,  Life  of  Kev.  Dr.  Milnor,  p.  212. 


n 


m, 


IN  THE  UMTED  STATES. 


393 


iiicd,  aiul 

r.  McsHi's. 
.  followed 
Richards, 

)!•   of   til (3 

the  Rev. 
I  reply  to 
p  lie  had 
bishop   of 
^%  in  the 
neiidship 
jpes  "sveio 
roductiou 
lis  grace, 
d  for  hia 
f  the  Rt. 
so  lately 
of  Peter, 
is  native 
Belgium, 
zealously 
order  to 
,  in  Au- 
/ished  to 
leni  for 
tcsy,  and 
le  read 
o  he  in- 
examin- 
|i-ess,"  ho 
so  that  I 


I 


n 

n 

3 


.am  fully  convinced  no  doctrine  has  hcen  more  niisroprcsentcd,  as 
far  as  I  can  understand  it.  I  see  nothing  but  what  has  the  sanc- 
tion of  God's  word."  Called  upon  by  the  Methodist  Society  to 
explain  his  visits  to  the  Catholic  clergy,  he  declined  till  he  had 
finally  made  up  his  mind.  Ho  then  announced  his  detcrniiiia- 
tion  in  a  letter  of  remarkable  candor  and  earnestness. 

This  step  excited  the  greatest  consternation  among  the  Meth- 
odists, and  as  Mr.  Richards  had  abstained  from  any  public  expo- 
sition of  the  causes  of  his  conversion,  it  was  not  easy  to  refute 
the  arguments  which  had  influenced  him.  One  Methodist  cler- 
gyman, however,  undertook  to  counteract  the  evil  done,  and  in  a 
curious  little  book,  begins  by  supposing  the  grounds  on  which 
Mr.  Richards  acted,  and  then,  quite  to  his  own  satisfaction,  slunvs 
them  to  be  fallacious.* 

Of  all  this  Mr.  Richards  took  no  notice.  lie  entered  the  sem- 
inary, and  after  a  thorough  course  of  study,  was  ordained,  and 
for  many  years  edified  Canada  by  his  zeal  and  devotcdness. 
Candid  and  upright  in  life,  in  death  he  was  a  martyr  of  charity. 
The  number  of  Catholics  who  were  thus  gained  by  conversion 
was,  however,  small ;  but  the  Catholic  population  was  now  rap- 
idly increasing;  emigration  had  become  a  tide,  and  in  three 
years  ten  thousand  Irish  Catholics  landed  at  New  York,  actually 
doubline'  the  number  of  the  faithful.  For  these,  churches, 
schools,  every  thing  were  to  be  provided. 

"We  have  seen  how  hopefully  Catholicity  had  begun  in  New 
York,  with  its  Ursuline  convent,  its  Jesuit  college,  its  Trappist 


*  An  inquiry  into  the  fundamental  prinoiplea  of  Koman  Ciitliulics,  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Jolin  Richards;  by  Samuel  Coate.  Brooklyn,  1S09.  Mr.  Kich- 
ards'  journal  at  the  time  of  hia  conversion  is  still  e.xtant,  and  we  arc  indebted 
for  a  copy  of  it  to  tlic  Sulpitiana  of  Montreal.  Mr.  Richards  was  ordained  on 
the  25th  of  July,  1813,  and  died  at  Montreal  en  the  23d  of  July,  1847,  of  the 
typhus,  caught  while  attending  the  emigrants.  Martin;  Manuel  du  Pelerin 
de  N.  U.  de  Bon  Secours.  He  is  mentioned  with  singular  praise  anil  mod- 
eration in  Bangs'  History  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  i. 


'W 


391 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


nionastory.  All  tlicsu,  however,  hud  dlrtiippearecl,  and  Dit^hop 
Connolly  was  luuiblo  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Without  reve- 
nues, relying  entirely  on  the  bodies  of  trustees  and  their  caprice, 
with  a  cathedral  loaded  with  debt,  ho  did  not  even  venture  to 
think  of  erecting  a  seminary,  and  had  no  schools  in  which  to 
imbue  Catholic  youth  with  Catholic  sentiments,  or  counteract 
the  "almost  invincible  repugnance  of  the  American  youth  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state." 

In  1817  he  applied,  however,  to  his  future  successor,  the  Rev. 
John  Dubois,  then  director  of  the  Sisters  of  (Jharity,  for  Sisters 
to  direct  the  orphan  asylum  at  the  cathedral.  Mrs.  Seton  could 
not  resist  the  appeal  from  her  native  city,  and  chose  Sister  Kosc 
"White,  Cecilia  O'Conway,  and  Felicitas  Brady,  who  arrived  in 
New  York  on  the  20th  of  June,  1817,  and  "commenced  in  an 
humble  way  an  institution  destined  to  become  a  most  flourishing 
asylum,  and  what  is  more,  founded,  by  the  introduction  of  their 
order,  those  many  establishments  of  charity,  mercy,  and  educa- 
tion which  cover  the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  which  alono 
the  rule  and  dress  of  Mother  Seton  are  preserved  unaltered. 

"  A  small  wooden  building  on  Prince-street  sufliced  then  to 
hold  the  Sisters  and  the  five  orphans  first  committed  to  their 
care ;  but  the  number  rapidly  increased,  and  schools  under  their 
direction  multiplied  in  various  parts."* 

The  Erie  Canal,  which  was  begun  in  1819,  drew  the  Irish 
emigrants  to  that  part  of  the  State,  and  first  gave  the  Catholics 
numerical  importance  in  Central  New  York.  Three  years  later, 
liishop  Connolly  made  a  visitation  of  his  diocese,  which  was  pro- 
ductive of  great  consolation  to  himself  and  good  to  his  widely 
scattered  flock.  At  Albany  he  received  into  the  Church  Mr. 
Keating  Lawson  and  Miss  Eldredge,  both  of  Lansingburg ;  and 
proceeding  westward,  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  Dominic  Lynch, 


'; 


I 


I 


I 


:l 


*  White's  Life  of  Mr.s.  Seton,  p.  339. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


395 


Esq.,  at  Rome,  and  John  C.  Devereux,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  in  both  of 
whom  the  Church  found  zealous  and  able  supporters.* 

Bishop  Connolly  was  not  insensible  to  the  progress  of  Catho- 
licity in  other  parts  of  the  Union,  but  actively  co-operated  with 
his  brother  prelates,  and  essentially  contributed  to  the  erection 
of  new  Sees.  Under  his  administration  the  good  bishop  had 
seen  several  churches  arise — St.  John's  at  Utica,  St.  Patrick's  in 
Rochester.  In  1822  he  could  number  eight  priests  on  the  mis- 
sion, three  of  them  ordained  by  himself.  One  of  these,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Bulger,  an  unwearied  missionary,  then  served,  as  his  parish, 
the  present  diocese  of  Newark ;  the  parishes  of  the  Rev.  Michael 
Carroll  and  the  Rev.  John  Faruan  comprised  the  diocese  of  Al- 
bany, and  that  of  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  that  of  Buffalo  ;  while 
not  a  single  clergyman  was  stationed  in  what  is  now  the  diocese 
of  Brooklyn,  where  in  1823  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shanahan  said  his  first 
Mass  and  began  to  gather  a  congregation. 

Every  priest  at  this  time  had  his  appointed  catechism  classes 
before  divine  service  on  Sundays,  and  had  rosary  societies,  not 
only  in  each  church,  but  in  most  of  the  stations  attached  to  them. 
Their  duties,  especially  out  of  the  city,  were  very  laborious,  and 
subjected  them  to  many  hardships,  of  which  they  have  left  us  no 
record. 

The  bishop  subsequently  ordained  three  other  clergymen,  two 
of  whom  still  survive  in  the  active  discharge  of  their  duties.f 
The  Rev.  Mr.  O'Gorman  was  for  some  years  with  the  bishop  at 
the  cathedral,  but  in  the  month  of  November,  1824,  he  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bulger,  like  himself  a  native  of  Kilkenny,  and  ordained 
by  Bishop  Connolly,  expired  within  a  week  of  each  other,  and 
the  good  bishop,  worn  out  with  toil  and  trouble,  soon  followed 
them  to  the  tomb.     He  was  taken  sick  on  his  return  from  Mi*. 


*  For  many  of  these  details,  and  much  valuable  information  as  to  this  pe- 
riod, we  are  indebted  to  the  venerable  Rev.  John  Shanahan. 
t  Rov.  John  Shanahan  and  Rev.  Mr.  Conroy. 


1 1 


y 
i        il 


396 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


O'Gonnan's  funeral,  but  struggled  throngh  tlie  winter,  disoluug* 
ing  without  eoinplaitit  the  additional  duty  devolved  upon  liiin, 
and  actually  officiating  within  a  week  of  his  death.  Attended 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shauahan,  ho  expired  at  his  residence  on  Scxa- 
gcsima  Sunday  evening,  February  Gth,  1 825. 

His  funeral  was  attended  by  tliousands,  and  all  sytnpatliizrd 
■with  the  devoted  Catholici*,  who  regretted  the  loss  of  "the  pious, 
worthy,  and  venerable  Bisliop  Connolly." 

The  Rev.  John  Power,  wlio  now  became  administrator  of  the 
diocese,  was  born  near  Roscarberry,  in  Ireland,  of  a  very  respect- 
able family,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1702.  Afttn'  a  <1istinguishcd 
course  of  study  at  Maynooth,  he  was  ordained,  and  for  a  timo 
taught  divinity  in  the  Diocesan  Seminary  at  Cork.  Invited  by 
the  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  lie  came  to  New  Voik  in  1810.  Ho 
was  an  able  theologian,  a  most  eloquent  preacher,  and  a  faithful 
priest.  His  zeal  and  charity  are  still  proverbial,  and  the  yellow 
fever,  which  ravaged  New  York  at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  aft'ord- 
od  him  ample  exercise  for  his  devotedness.  He  administered  the 
diocese  for  two  years  with  great  ability,  the  death  of  two  priests 
and  the  suspension  of  two  others  greatly  increasing  the  difliculty 
of  his  position.* 

Under  the  next  Bishop  of  New  York  he  became  vicar-general, 
and  continued  in  that  important  post  till  his  death.  Possessing 
great  eloquence,  his  appeals,  especially  those  on  behalf  of  the 
orphans,  always  obtained  a  most  plentiful  collection  from  the 
charity  of  the  faithful.  As  a  controversialist  he  possessed  great 
skill  and  power,  free  from  all  aciimony  and  bitterness,  and  his 
writings,  doctrinal  and  controvereial,  ofiected  at  the  time  no  un- 
important good.  St.  Peter's  Church  was  the  only  field  of  his 
ministry  from  his  arrival  in  New  York  to  his  death,  and  under 
his  care  the  present  noble  pile  was  reared. 

*  Bishop  Bayley'u  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


397 


of  tho 


great 


»    5 


While  the  "Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  administered  the  diocese  of 
New  York,  the  Church  gradual ly  extended.  Tho  Catholics  in 
tho  city  had  become  too  numerous,  and  many  too  far  removed 
from  the  cathedral  and  St.  Peter's,  to  be  able  to  attend  them  or 
find  accommodations  there.  A  church  in  Hheriff-street,  belong- 
ing to  the  Presbyterians,  was  accordingly  })urehased  in  1830, 
and  opened  for  divine  worship  on  the  14th  of  May  in  that  year. 
In  thd  opening  discourse  pronounced  by  tho  pastor,  the  Kev. 
Hatton  Walsh,  he  says  :  "  At  no  distant  period  a  single  church 
had  been  amply  sufficient  to  contain  the  Catholics  of  that  vast 
commercial  city ;  and  when  it  had  been  deemed  expedient  to 
erect  a  sumptuous  cathedral  in  honor  of  the  Most  High,  it  was 
more  than  the  warmest  friends  of  Catholicity  could  then  expect 
that  its  spacious  aisles  should  be  filled  with  the  followers  of  the 
ancient  faith ;  but  so  diligently  had  tho  vineyard  of  the  Lord 
been  cultivated,  and  so  fruitfully  had  it  flourished,  that  in  order 
to  aftbrd  an  opportunity  to  every  one  of  assisting  at  tho  sacred 
mysteries  of  our  religion,  it  had  been  considered  necessary  to 
procure  for  their  accommodation  this  additional  temple."* 

Meanwhile  the  Holy  See  had,  on  tho  recommendation  of  the 
American  prelates,  raised  to  the  vacant  See  the  Rev.  John  Du- 
bois, founder  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  at  Emmetsburg,  whose 
labors  in  Virginia  and  Maryland  have  been  mentioned  elsewhere. 
Porn  at  Paris  on  tho  20th  of  August,  1164,  he  had  received  a 
careful  education  at  the  college  of  Louis  le  Grand,  at  tho  time 
that  tho  Abbe  Proyart  was  the  director,  and  when  it  numbered 
among  its  pupils  M'Carthy,  afterwards  a  celebrated  preacher  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus ;  Legris  Duval  and  Leonard,  both  eminent 
clergymen,  and  also  (men  whom  Franco  will  over  remember  with 
horror)  Robespierre  and  Camille  DesmouUns.     After  reading  di- 


*  A  discourse  delivered  at  the  opening  of  St.  Mary'a  Church,  by  the  Eov. 
Hatton  Walsh.     New  York,  1826 ;  p.  7. 


* 


398 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


.•  1        'i 


"1  i        r 


I 


vinity  with  tlio  OrHtoiiiiiis,  ho  was  onlaiiu-d  about  1780,  an<l  stn 
lioiieil  at  St.  Sulpict'.  Having  in  a  iiU)mout  of  wcukiit'ss  taken 
tho  couHtitutioual  oath,  ho  soon  saw  tho  danger,  and  resolving  tc 
loavo  Franco,  Hailed  for  America  with  letters  of  introduction  from 
Lafayette,  and  after  arriving  safely  nt  Norfolk  iu  1791,  becaino 
uu  iuuiatc  of  tho  family  of  tho  lion.  James  Monroe,  atlerwardti 
IVosidcnt  of  tho  United  States,  whoso  relalivo  and  namesako  ia 
now  a  member  of  tho  true  fold. 

On  liis  appointment  to  tho  Soo  of  Now  York,  Dr.  Dubois  pro- 
pared,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  ago,  to  assumo  tho  duties 
which  devolved  upon  him,  and  having  received  his  cross  and 
ring  from  tho  kindness  of  tho  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Car- 
vollton,  was  consecrated  at  Baltimore  on  Sunday,  tho  'JOth  of  Oc- 
tober, 1820,  by  Archbishop  Marechal,  amid  a  crowd  of  his  old 
pupils,  who  wished  to  give  tliis  last  mark  of  attachment  to  their 
old  director,  and  three  days  later  took  j)ossossion  of  his  See.* 
On  his  arrival  at  Now  York  his  cathedral  ^^  •^  crowded,  no  loss 
than  four  thousand  of  tho  faithful  2)res.siug  around  its  altar 
to  receive  tho  blessing  of  the  new  pastor.f  Murmurs  however, 
were  heard ;  the  Catholics  of  New  York  wore  chiefly  of  Irish 
origin,  and  in  their  eyes  the  new  bishop  was  a  foreigner ;  nor 
did  they  conceal  their  dissatisfaction.  Firm  and  decided  in  his 
opinions  and  conduct,  Bishop  Dubois  was  not  disposed  to  ihitter 
or  soothe.  "  tie  is  going  to  govern  strongly  in  his  strong  way," 
Avrote  his  holy  friend.  Dr.  Brute,  the  future  Bishop  of  Vin- 
cenues;  and  the  bishop  soon  issued  a  pastoral,  !u  which,  claimiuf 
the  rights  of  an  American  citizen,  both  by  liis  naturalizatio-. 
and  services,  he  denied  any  ground  to  object  to  his  nationality, 
and  commentino'  severely  on  abuses  whicli  prevailed,  he  avowed 


* 


.& 


*  Blsliop  Bayloy'fc  lire,  'kctcli  of  the  Ciitholic  Church,  pp.  80-86.  An- 
nales  do  la  Propiigfttion  d-  >,.  Fo-,  iv.  251. 

t  Annales  de  1ft  P-opj^gatiiJi  de  la  Foi.  iv.  447.  Bisliop  Bayley's  Brief 
Sketch,  p.  92. 


'€ 


>  ! 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


399 


way, 
Viii- 


1 


h'w  tloteriniimtion  to  bring  tho  discipliuo  of  the  diocoi'C  to  tlio 
stniulard  of  tho  sacrod  caiioiifl. 

Now  York  city  then  contained,  according  to  his  calcuUition, 
thirty-flvo  thousand  Catliolics,  and  tho  diocoso  ouo  hundred  and 
fifty  tbuUK.'Tid,  with  ci^ht  churches  and  oiglitcon  priests.  Ta 
roaiiz'5  il.o,  actual  position  of  atl'airs  tho  aged  prehito  began  a 
visifntion  of  his  vast  dioceso,  encouraging  tlio  Catholics,  hearing 
contf  sious,  and  administering  tho  sacraments.  Albany  m^eded 
eucouragenient  in  building  a  now  church,  and  tho  presence  of  tho 
blshi  ip  gave  it.  At  Bufl'alo  ho  said  Mass  in  the  Courthouse,  i  j- 
ceived  a  grant  of  land  for  tho  erection  of  the  since  famous  church 
of  St.  Louis,  and  blessed  it  amid  tho  general  admiration — Catho- 
lics of  Ireland,  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland  harmoniously 
joining  in  tho  ceremony.  Before  returning  to  his  episcopal  city, 
Bishop  Dubois  also  visited  the  Indian  village  of  St.  Regis,  which 
lay  partly  in  his  diocese,  and  where  tho  American  part  was  in 
open  opposition  to  its  pastor,  who  dwelt  on  the  Canadian  side. 
Uero,  as  elsewhere,  he  administered  tho  sacrament  of  confirma- 
tion, but  was  not  called  upon  to  baptize  or  confess,  the  Indian'- 
being,  for  all  their  foolish  obstinacy,  more  blessed  than  their 
white  brethren  in  the  possession  of  a  church  and  regular  pastor. 

The  wants  of  his  diocese  were  now  before  tho  bishoj),  and  ho 
saw  the  pressing  necessity  of  a  seminary  and  college,  of  schools 
for  boys,  of  a  hospi.al, especially  for  emigrants,  and  of  asylums  to 
save  'bo  orphans,  ;•<  well  as  of  churches  at  almost  every  point  to 
enable  the  scattered  Catholics  to  worship  God.  Hov/  much  would 
he  have  realized,  had  ho  been  seconded  by  the  flock  committed  to 
his  care!  But  unfortunately  tho  die  had  been  cast;  the  trustee 
interest  was  arrayed  against  him,  and  his  projects  were  either 
traversed  or  disregarded.  Still,  ho  never  forsook  them,  and  to  tho 
last  labored  t"  supply  the  deficiencies  under  which  the  diocese 
labored. 

Without  awaiting  the  projected  Council  at  Baltimore,  he  ro 


I 


J 


>    !i 


i;    'I 


luii; 


400 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


solved  to  proceed  to  Europe  in  search  of  aid,  and  before  departing, 
received  from  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith 
a  considerable  allowance — a  favor  which  his  friend  Dr.  Bruto 
had  obtained  him.  With  this  he  aided  the  Catholics  of  Albany 
in  erecting  their  church,  and  redeemed  that  of  Newark,  just 
about  to  be  sacrificed.  Thus  relieved  on  two  points,  he  next,  in 
1837,  purchased  Christ  Church,  in  Ann-street,  from  the  Episco- 
palians, and  stationed  in  Brooklyn  the  Rev.  John  Walsh,  who 
thus  became  the  first  resident  pastor  in  that  city,  now  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  Union,  and  itself  an  episcopal  See. 

Bishop  Dubois  reached  France  in  October,  1829,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome  to  confide  his  pains,  his  trials,  and  the  number- 
less obstacles  which  he  met,  to  the  father  of  the  faithful  and  the 
venerable  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda.  On  terminating 
the  affairs  which  had  called  him  to  the  Holy  City,  and  having 
procured  such  aid  as  he  was  able,  he  returned  to  New  York,  and 
began  his  endeavors  to  rear  the  establishments  of  which  he  saw 
the  greatest  need. 

A  house  of  education  for  youth  and  seminary  combined  was 
his  project.  An  Irish  Brotherhood,  under  Brother  Boylen,  had 
proposed  schools  in  the  city,  but  the  trustees  would  not  consent 
to  the  deed  being  made  to  the  brothers  direct,  and  Brother  Boy- 
len himself  proving  very  unfit,  the  plan  failed.  The  bishop,  con- 
ceiving that  a  spot  at  some  distance  from  the  city  would  be 
most  advantageous  for  the  purpose,  purchased  some  property  at 
Nyack,  on  the  North  River,  and  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  col- 
lege on  the  29th  of  May,  1833.  This  step  aroused  all  the  big- 
otry of  the  enemies  of  Catholicity ;  the  pulpits  echoed  with  loud 
declaimers  against  the  Church ;  the  application  for  an  incorpora- 
tion was  opposed  by  an  eager  body  of  remonstrants,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Brov/nlee  preached  so  zealously  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Nyack,  and  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  inhabitants  of  that  part 
the  danger  of  having  a  Catholic  college  there,  that  the  college 


i     I 


1     I 


'I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


401 


3  departing, 
f  the  Faith 

Dr.  Bruto 
5  of  Albany 
ewark,  just 

he  next,  in 
the  Episco- 
Valsh,  who 
■  one  of  the 

>,  and  pro- 
xe  number- 
ful  and  the 
ierminating 
and  having 
York,  and 
ich  he  saw 

ibined  was 
oylen,  had 
ot  consent 
)ther  Boy- 
shop,  con- 
would  be 
foperty  at 
f  the  col- 
the  big- 
with  loud 
corpora- 
the  Eev. 
hood  of 
hat  part 
college 


itself  was  accidentally  destroyed  by  fire !  No  doubt  can  exist  in 
the  mind  of  any  reasonable  man  that  the  torch  of  an  incendiary 
was  applied  to  this  Catholic  institution,  as  it  had  already  been  to 
St.  Mary's  Church  in  1831 ;  for  threats  had  not  been  withheld, 
and  the  bishop  had  even  sought  the  protection  of  the  authorities 
for  his  rising  seat  of  learning.*  Yet  so  it  was :  the  men  whose 
chief  capital  was  to  accuse  Catholics  of  ignorance,  moved  heaven 
and  earth,  and  branded  their  own  souls  with  guilt,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent Catholics  from  affording  a  suitable  education  to  their  children. 

Bishop  Dubois  next  endeavored  to  establish  a  college  at  Brook- 
lyn, where  Cornelius  Heeny,  Esq.,  offered  ground  for  the  purpose ; 
but  his  conditions  proved  onerous,  and  the  plan  was  abandoned. 
A  subsequent  attempt  at  Lafargeville,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State,  was  more  successful,  but  it  was  too  remote  from  the  great 
body  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  college  was  finally  closed. 

The  excitement  against  the  Catholics,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  was  entirely  the  work  of  clergymen  who  lost  no  occasion 
of  attacking  the  Catholic  doctrines  and  the  character  of  Catho- 
lics as  individuals  and  as  citizens.  They  were  not,  however,  un- 
answered. The  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power,  the  Very  Rev.  Felix 
Varela,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Levins, 
met  their  antagonists  with  zeal  and  ability.  Of  the  first  of 
these  clergymen  we  have  already  spoken.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Varela 
was  no  less  eminent  a  man.  Born  at  Havana,  in  the  island  of 
Cuba,  in  IVST,  he  early  devoted  himself  to  the  ecclesiastical 
state,  and  became  a  distinguished  professor  in  the  University  of 
San  Carlos,  in  his  native  city.  A  man  of  great  charity,  he  was 
known  and  esteemed  by  all,  and  was  unanimously  chosen  a 
deputy  to  the  Spanish  Cortes  under  the  Constitution  in  1822. 
Protesting  against  the  overthrow  of  the  new  government,  he 
became  an  exile,  and  in  1823  chose  for  his  new  home  the  soil 

*  Varela,  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii.  143.    New  York,  1838. 


m 


If 


402 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


of  the  United  States.  He  was  totally  unacquainted  -with  tht 
language,  and  the  climate  during  the  first  years  of  his  residence 
nearly  proved  fatal  to  him.  In  spite  of  honorable  invitations  to 
proceed  to  other  countries,  he  preferred  to  remain  and  labor  for 
the  Catholics  of  the  United  States.  "  I  am  in  affection,"  he 
says,  "  a  native  of  this  country,  although  I  am  not  nor  ever  will 
be  a  citizen,  having  made  a  firm  resolution  to  become  a  citizen  of 
no  other  country  after  the  occurrences  which  have  torn  me  from 
my  own.  I  never  expect  to  see  it  again,  but  I  think  that  I  owe  it 
a  tribute  of  my  love  and  respect  by  uniting  myself  to  no  other." 
He  landed  in  Philadelphia  in  1823,  but  soon  proceeded  to 
New  York,  and  was  successively  assistant  at  St.  Peter's,  pastor 
of  Christ  Church,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Transfiguration,  which 
he  erected.  He  was  a  solid  theologian,  and  wrote  several  works 
in  his  native  language,  which  circulated  extensively  through  Cuba 
and  Spanish  America,  and  in  English  contributed  extensively  to 
the  Catholic  papers  and  periodicals.  Of  these  fugitive  pieces  of 
his,  that  entitled  "  The  Five  Different  Bibles  distributed  and  sold 
by  the  ximerican  Bible  Society"  was  probably  the  happiest,  and 
attracted  most  notice.  It  compelled  that  Society  to  throw  off 
the  mask,  and  not  condemn  a  Catholic  translation  in  one  lan- 
guage while  they  circulated  it  in  another,  or  to  omit  in  one 
edition  certain  books  as  uninspired,  and  put  them  in  another  as 
inspired.  Dr.  Varela  did  not  shrink  from  oral  discussion,  and 
as  early  as  1831  accepted  an  invitation  to  defend  the  Catholic 
doctrine  in  an  assembly  of  ministers  presided  over  by  the  noto- 
rious Dr.  Brownlee,  who,  finding  the  audience  completely  aston- 
ished and  convinced  by  the  reasoning  of  the  talented  Cuban 
ecclesiastic,  endeavored  to  persuade  the  meeting  that  Dr.  Varela 
had  stated  what  was  not  Catholic  doctrine,  and  that  he  would 
be  surely  suspended  by  his  bishop.* 


*  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii. 


ii 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


403 


ited  with  th«: 
his  residence 
invitations  to 
and  labor  for 
affection,"  he 
nor  ever  will 
ne  a  citizen  of 
torn  me  from 
c  that  I  owe  it 
to  no  other." 
proceeded  to 
'eter's,  pastor 
iration,  which 
several  works 
through  Cuba 
extensively  to 
tive  pieces  of 
uted  and  sold 
happiest,  and 
to  throw  off 
in  one  Ian- 
omit  in  one 
another  as 
cussion,  and 
ic  Catholic 
)y  the  noto- 
etely  aston- 
nted  Cuban 
t  Dr.  Varela 
at  he  would 


1 


It  is,  however,  chiefly  for  his  zeal  as  a  pastor,  and  for  his 
boundless  charity,  that  he  will  be  remembered  by  the  faithful  of 
New  York.  How  he  lived  was  a  wonder  to  his  friends,  for  he 
gave  away  every  thing  to  the  poor — the  clothing  off  his  back, 
the  spoons  from  his  table,  when  he  had  not  the  money  to  be- 
stow ;  and  these  acts  would  not  have  been  known,  had  not  the 
objects  of  his  charity  been  on  two  occasions,  to  his  great  distress, 
arrested  as  thieves.  He  inspired  his  congregation  with  a  spirit 
of  piety,  and  will  long  be  remembered  by  the  faithful  whom  he 
guided  in  the  way,  together  with  the  holy  Carthusian  Fatlicr, 
Alexander  Mopiatti,  who  was  for  a  time  the  partner  of  his  labors. 
After  nearly  thirty  years'  labor  in  the  ministrj^,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Varela  died,  on  the  18tli  of  February,  1853,  at  St.  Augustine, 
whither  he  had  retired  for  his  health. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller  is  still  in  the  ministry,  in  the  diocese 
of  Brooklyn,  and  Avas  long  pastor  at  Albany,  as  we  shall  see 
elsewhere.  The  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Levins  Avas  a  memoer  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  Possessing  great  mathematical  talents,  skilful 
as  a  lapidary,  a  thorough  theologian  and  dialectician,  he  was  too 
versatile  to  endure  the  confinement  of  a  college,  and,  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  his  order,  contributed  to  the  Washington  press  arti- 
cles which  attracted  universal  attention.  When  the  authorship 
became  known,  he  Avas  compelled  to  leave  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  came  to  the  diocese  of  New  York.  As  pastor  of  St.  Pat- 
nck's,  he  Avas  the  favorite  of  the  people,  especially  from  his  con- 
troversial talents,  and  the  opponents  of  Catholicity  justly  dreaded 
his  arguments.  Unfortunately,  he  Avas  deficient  in  amiability  of 
character,  and  his  asperity  led  him  to  treat  the  bishop  with  dis- 
respect and  disobedience.  At  last.  Bishop  Dubois  silenced  him, 
and  a  struggle  at  once  arose  :  the  trustees  of  St.  Patrick's  ad- 
hered to  Mr.  Levins,  and  refused  to  pay  the  salary  of  the  new 
pastor  appointed  by  the  bishop.  To  widen  the  breach,  they  also 
lamed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Levins  rector  of  the  Free  School,  with  a 


i 

\ 

i    \ 


i^    I 


40i 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


salary  sufficient  for  his  support.  A  new  conflict  resulted :  a 
Sunday-school  teacher  appointed  by  the  bishop  was  ordered  out 
of  the  house  by  the  rector,  and  on  his  return  the  next  Sunday,  he 
was  stopped  by  a  constable  ready  to  arrest  him  on  the  written  or- 
der of  the  trustees.  The  bishop,  gricA'ed  to  the  heart  at  an  insult 
to  his  authority  thus  openly  given,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  con- 
gregation of  his  cathedral.  "  The  trustees  seem  to  think,"  he 
says,  "  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  employ  whatever  power  they 
can  extract  from  the  charter,  or  obtain  from  the  civil  laws  as  a 
corporation,  in  a  kind  of  perennial  conflict  with  and  against  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  which 
they  should  be  the  firmest  and  foremost  to  uphold,  as  Catholics 
first,  and  as  trustees  afterwards.  It  is  possible  that  the  civil  law 
gives  them  power  to  send  a  constable  to  the  Sunday-school,  and 
eject  even  the  bishop  himself.  But,  if  it  does,  it  gives  them,  we  have 
no  doubt,  the  same  right  to  send  him  into  the  sanctuary,  and  remove 
any  of  these  gentlemen  from  before  the  altar.  And  is  it  your  inten- 
tion that  such  power  be  exercised  by  your  trustees  ?  If  so,  then 
it  is  almost  time  for  the  ministers  of  the  Lord  to  forsake  your 
temple,  and  erect  an  altar  to  their  God,  around  which  religion 
shall  be  free,  the  Council  of  Trent  fully  recognized,  and  the  laws 
of  the  Church  applied  to  the  government  and  regulation  of  the 
Church." 

Proceeding  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  the  usurpation  by  the 
trustees  of  authority  which  the  Church  never  gave — that  of  ap- 
pointing the  pastor  to  administer  the  sacraments,  the  choir  to 
take  part  in  the  performance  of  divine  worship,  the  sexton  to 
take  care  of  the  altar,  the  teacher  to  guide  the  young — he 
showed  how  utterly  inconsistent  it  was  with  the  very  first  ideas 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  announces  his  resolution  to  extirpate 
it.  "  Do  not  suppose  that  the  Church  of  God,  because  she  has 
no  civil  support  for  her  laws  and  discipline,  is  therefore  obliged 
to  see  them  trampled  on  by  her  own  children,  without  any  means 


11 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


405 


ct  resulted :   a 
'as  ordered  out 
ext  Sunday,  be 
the  written  or- 
irt  at  an  insult 
ter  to  the  con- 
to  think,"  he 
3r  power  they 
ivil  laws  as  a 
id  against  the 
Dhurch,  which 
i,  as  Catholics 
t  the  civil  law 
ay-school,  and 
them,  we  have 
ry,  and  remove 
it  your  inten- 
If  so,  then 
forsake  your 
hich  religion 
and  the  laws 
ation  of  the 

ion  by  the 
that  of  ap- 
le  choir  to 
e  sexton  to 
young — he 
r  first  ideas 
to  extirpate 
se  she  has 
)re  obliged 
any  means 


for  their  preservation.  She  has  means ;  and  it  is  necessary  that 
her  discipline  be  restored,  and  the  abuses  on  the  part  of  your 
trustees,  to  which  wo  have  alluded,  be  disavowed  and  re- 
moved." 

The  trustees,  however,  did  not  yield  ;  they  threatened  to  cut  off 
the  bishop's  own  salary,  unless  he  gave  them  such  clergymen  as 
they  asked ;  but  they  little  knew  the  spirit  of  the  aged  prelate. 
"  Gentlemen,"  he  replied,  "  you  may  vote  me  a  salary  or  not ;  I 
need  little  ;  I  can  live  in  a  basement  or  a  garret ;  but  whether  I 
come  up  from  my  basement  or  down  from  my  garret,  I  shall  still 
be  your  bishop." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Levins  was,  however,  sensible  that  this  struggle 
could  only  injure  him,  and  retired  from  the  field.  Irreproach- 
able in  his  moral  conduct,  he  resided  near  the  bishop,  engaged 
in  literary  pursuits  or  mathematical  studies,  and  even  employed 
his  talents  as  engineer  on  the  Croton  Aqueduct.  Restored 
some  years  after,  he  died  at  New  York,  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1843. 

These  were  not  the  only  troubles  under  the  administration  of 
Bishop  Dubois.  The  outrage  at  Charlestown  had  its  syripathi- 
zers  in  New  York,  and  a  couple  of  years  later,  a  mob  assembled 
to  destroy  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral ;  but  they  knew  little  of  the 
Catholics  of  New  York  when  they  devised  their  plans.  The 
church  was  put  in  a  state  of  defence  :  the  streets  leading  to  it 
were  torn  up,  and  every  window  was  to  be  a  point  whence  mis- 
siles could  be  thrown  on  the  advancing  horde  of  sacrilegious 
wretches;  while  the  wall  of  the  churchyard,  rudely  crenelled, 
bristled  with  the  muskets  of  those  ready  for  the  last  struggle  for 
the  altar  of  their  God  and  the  graves  of  those  they  loved.  So 
fearful  a  preparation,  unknown  to  the  enemies  of  religion,  came 
upon  them  like  a  thunderclap  when  their  van  had  nearly  reached 
the  street  leading  to  the  Cathedral ;  they  fled  in  all  directions,  in 
dismay ;  and  so  complete  has  the  prestige  been,  that  neither  in 


I     i 


I. 

1!         ' 
i 


!i 


406 


TILE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


1844  nor  in  1855  was  there  any  demonstration  against  tin 
churches  in  New  York.* 

New  York  could  now  number  several  churches,  and  others  haft 
arisen  in  various  parts  of  the  diocese.  These  were  not  all,  how- 
ever, for  Catholics  of  the  English  tongue.  Emigrants  from  Ger- 
many began  to  pour  in,  many  of  whom  were  Catholics,  and 
among  the  new  churches  we  find  that  of  St.  Nicholas,  for  the 
Germans,  due  chiefly  to  the  zeal  and  devotedness  of  the  Rev. 
John  RaflFeiner,  a  native  of  Brixia,  in  the  Tyrol,  who,  in  1833, 
arriving  in  the  country,  first  began  to  labor  exclusively  among 
the  German  Cntholics,  not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  the  vicinity, 
at  Brooklyn,  "W  illiamsburg,  Macopin,  in  New  Jersey,  and  even  as 
far  as  Boston,  Utica,  and  Rochester,  in  almost  all  of  which  he 
erected  the  churches  or  prepared  the  ground  completely  for 
others.f 

This  German  emigration  was  not  all  induced  by  political  rea- 
sons, or  the  desire  of  bettering  their  condition  in  life.  In  aston- 
ishment and  shame,  the  Protestants  of  the  United  States  beheld 
numbers  arrive  whom  the  intolerance  of  the  Prussian  king  had 
forced  to  abandon  their  happy  homes.  Whole  villages,  with 
their  Lutheran  pastors,  preferred  to  risk  all  in  seeking  the  New 
World,  to  submitting  to  the  tyrannical  behests  of  their  Prot- 
estant monarch,  who  sought  to  constitute  the  various  churches, 
as  he  did  his  army.  Among  the  pastors  who  accompanied  the 
exiles  was  Rev.  J  "hn  James  Maximilian  (Ertel,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Erlang.  He  had  hoped,  in  free  America,  to  find 
the  Lutheran  churches  faithful  to  their  original  form ;  but,  to  his 
disappointment,  he  beheld  them  voluntarily  blending  with  those 
churches  which  all  the  power  of  Prussia  could  not  force  him  to 
accept.     All  the  doctrines  of  Luther  had  been  abandoned,  ex- 

*  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii.  142. 

t  He  erected  St.  Nicholas's  and  St.  John's  at  New  York,  Holy  Trinity  at 
Boston,  Holy  Trinity  in  Williamsburg,  and  another  at  Macopin. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


407 


m  against  thi 


and  others  hub 
'Q  not  all,  liow- 
•ants  from  Ger- 
Catholics,  and 
cholas,  for  the 
ss  of  the  Rev. 
who,  in  1833, 
lusively  among 
in  the  vicinity, 
jy,  and  even  as 
11  of  which  he 
completely  for 

>y  political  rea- 
ife.     In  aston- 
States  beheld 
siau  king  had 
villages,  with 
dng  the  New 
of  their  Prot- 
ons churches, 
ompanied  the 
aduate  of  the 
lerica,  to  find 
but,  to  his 
g  with  those 
force  him  to 
Dandoned,  ex- 


Holy  Trinity  at 
in. 


I 


,1 


^I 


cept  his  hostility  to  Rome;  and  this  feeling,  which  had  been 
nursed  by  the  arbitrary  princes  and  parliaments  of  Europe,  he 
thought  least  characteristic  of  all  of  the  Church  founded  by  our 
Lord,  He  began  to  examine  the  great  religious  question,  and  he 
was  soon  convinced  that  the  Reformers  had  no  divine  mission  to 
alter  the  received  creed  and  worship  of  Christendom;  and 
that,  without  such  mission,  their  work  was  but  a  sacrilege,  such 
as  God  punished  of  old  by  sudden  vengeance  on  those  who  pre- 
tended to  assume  the  priesthood  of  His  worsliip.  Mr.  (Ertel 
became  a  Catholic,  and  after  being  received  into  the  Church,  has 
devoted  himself  1o  editing  a  German  Catholic  paper. 

Academies  for  the  instruction  of  girls  were  also  formed  by  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  the  first  having  been  opened  in  1830,  during 
the  absence  of  Bishop  Dubois  in  Europe.  Another  very  flour- 
ishing one  was  afterwards  established  in  the  Seventh  Ward,  and, 
under  the  able  direction  of  Sister  William  Anna,  trained  many 
young  Catholic  ladies  in  useful  learning  and  accomplishments, 
adorned  by  the  practice  of  religion.  This  school,  at  a  later  date, 
gave  rise  to  the  Academy  of  Mount  St.  Vincent,  at  Harlem, 
which  is  now  the  mother-house  of  the  order,  as  founded  by 
Mrs.  Seton. 

Among  the  clergymen  who  joined  the  diocese  of  New  York 
during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Dubois,  we  cannot  omit  to  men- 
tion the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Pise,  so  well  known  by  his  popular 
writings  in  prose  and  verse,  and  as  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
preacher.  Before  coming  to  New  York,  he  had  published  a  suc- 
cinct Church  History,  and  subsequently  wrote  the  Lives  of  St. 
Ignatius  and  his  companions,  several  volumes  of  poems,  tales,  a 
work  ou  the  Doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  several  minor  trea- 
tises. In  fact,  he  first  endeavored  to  give  the  young  Catholics  of 
America  reading  which  would  be  attractive  and  innocent.  Like 
many  good  works,  this  at  first  found  many  assailants,  and,  borne 
down  by  the  fierce  criticism  of  Catholic  reviewers,  the  publisher 


1,-1 


•i  i 


408 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


of  these  popular  Catholic  works  was  compelled  to  stop  the  pub- 
lication. All,  however,  now  admit  the  necessity  of  a  literature  of 
this  kind,  of  which  Dr.  Pise  must  be  considered  the  founder.* 

About  1837,  Bishop  Dubois  began  to  sink  under  the  labors 
which  the  increase  of  his  diocese  imposed  upon  him.  He  so- 
licited a  coadjutor,  and  the  Rev.  John  Hughes,  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  was  appointed  by  the  Holy  See,  Bishop  of  Basile- 
opolis  in  partibus  infidelium,  and  Coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  New 
York.  At  this  time,  the  diocese  comprised  seven  churches  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  eleven  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  and  four  in 
New  Jersey,  attended  in  all  by  fifty  clergymen,  who,  besides,  vis- 
ited regularly  twelve  other  stations  where  churches  had  not  been 
erected ;  the  college  at  Nyack  had  been  abandoned,  and  the 
schools  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  New  York  and  Albany  were 
the  only  academies,  and  their  orphan  asylums,  in  the  same  cities, 
and  at  Brooklyn  and  Utica,  the  only  eleemosynary  institutions. 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  administration  of  Bishop  Dubois, 
whose  zeal,  ever  checked  or  poorly  seconded,  had  not  been  able 
to  endow  his  diocese  with  those  establishments  which  its  necessi- 
ties imperatively  called  for.  Of  the  clergy  whom  he  had  gath- 
ered around  him,  it  was,  however,  consoling  to  think,  that  sixteen 
had  been  ordained  by  his  own  hands.f 

About  a  fortnight  after  the  appointment  of  his  coadjutor,  the 
venerable  bishop,  whose  health  had  been  gradually  failing,  was 
attacked  by  paralysis,  and  never  finally  recovered.  The  duties 
of  his  office  devolved  on  Bishop  Hughes,  who  was  in  the  follow- 
ing year  appointed  administrator  of  the  diocese.  Bishop  Dubois 
prepared  for  his  last  moments  with  all  the  calmness  and  tranquil 
piety  which  had  characterized  him  in  life,  taking  the  deepest  in- 
terest in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  flock  to  which  he  had  been 

*  For  a  notice  of  Dr.  Pise  and  his  works,  you  may  consult  Duyckinck's 
Cyclopaedia  of  American  Literature — in  vain  ! 
+  Catholic  Almanac  for  1838,  p.  83. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


409 


0  stop  the  pub- 
)f  a  literature  of 
lie  founder.* 
uder  the  labors 

1  him.  He  so- 
.  John's  Church, 
ishop  of  Basile- 
I  Bishop  of  New 
churches  in  the 
;ate,  and  four  in 
ho,  besides,  vis- 
es had  not  been 
doned,  and  the 
ad  Albany  were 

the  same  cities, 
ly  institutions. 
I  Bishop  Dubois, 
[I  not  been  able 
hich  its  necessi- 
n  he  had  gath- 

nk,  that  sixteen 

coadjutor,  the 

ly  failing,  was 

.    The  duties 

in  the  follow- 

Bishop  Dubois 

ss  and  tranquil 

,he  deepest  in- 

ih  he  had  been 

suit  Duyckinck's 


I 


1 


80  long  attached.  He  expired  at  his  residence,  on  Tuesday,  the 
20th  of  December,  1842,  without  a  struggle  and  without  a  sigh, 
with  a  prayer  on  his  lips,  and  a  sweet  hope  of  heavenly  rest  in 
his  heart.  At  his  own  humble  request,  he  was  interred  under 
the  pavement  before  the  main  door  of  his  cathedral. 

Bishop  Dubois  can  never  be  forgotten  in  the  annals  of  the 
American  Church  :  whether  we  regard  him  in  the  outset  of  his 
career  as  the  young  missionary,  of  iron  constitution,  teaching  for 
his  support  and  evangelizing  Norfolk  and  Richmond  ;  or  as  pas- 
tor at  Frederick,  visiting  the  vast  district  committed  to  liis  care, 
when,  to  use  the  words  of  the  venerable  clergyman  who  pro- 
nounced his  funeral  discourse,  "he  was  the  pastor  of  all  Western 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  for  some  time  the  only  Catholic 
priest  between  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis ;" 
or,  at  a  later  date,  erecting  the  college  at  the  Mount,  and,  by  di- 
recting Mrs.  Seton,  taking  so  active  a  part  in  the  good  accom- 
plished by  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  As  bishop,  he  did  not  forget 
his  early  predilection,  and  was  ever  more  assiduous  in  catechising 
the  young  than  in  preaching  to  the  grown.  His  career  as  a 
bishop  we  have  seen  one  of  unostentatious,  but  active  and  un- 
tiring benevolence.  His  visitations  of  his  diocese  Avere  frequent, 
and,  though  ever  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  he  was  a  kind  father  to  his  clergy,  a  friend  and  bene- 
factor to  the  poor,  a  pastor  full  of  solicitude  to  supply  abundantly 
the  spiritual  wants  of  his  extensive  diocese.* 

His  worth  was  not  unrecognized.  Immediately  after  his  death, 
the  faculty  and  students  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  convened,  and  re- 
solved to  erect  a  monument  at  the  mountain  to  "  the  founder  of 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary,  and  the  father  of  the 
Institution  of  Sisters  of  Charity  in  this  country." 

*  Eov.  John  M'Caffrey,  Discourse  on  the  Right  Eev.  John  Dubois,  D.  D., 
Gettysburg,  1843.  Bishop  Bayley,  Brief  Sketch,  pp.  108,  104.  Catholic  Al- 
manac, 1845,  p.  48.    White,  Life  of  Mrs.  Seton,  446. 

18 


II 


^  r  i 


410 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER     XXV. 


1 1 


DIOCESE    OF    NEW   YORK — (1888-1856). 

Bight  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Condjutor  and  tlien  Bishop  of  New  York— He  o\xrthrov8 
trusteeism — The  school  question— Bishop  Hughes  before  the  Common  ('(-u/i  -il— St. 
John's  College— The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Madame  Gnllitzin— The  Re- 
demptorists — The  Traciarian  niuvenient,  and  the  conversions  resulting  from  it — 
The  French  Chnrcli  and  the  Bishop  of  Nancy— Appointment  of  Right  Rev.  John 
McCloskey  as  Coadjutor— The  Sisters  of  Mercy— Reorganization  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity— Division  of  the  diocese— Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools— Progress  of 
Catholicity  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese— New  York  erected  into  an  archiepiscopal 
See— Erection  of  the  Sees  of  Brooklyn  and  Newark— First  Provincial  Council  of  New 
York— The  Church  Property  Bill  and  the  discussion  with  Senator  Brooks— Ret- 
rospect. 


No  prelate  of  the  Church  in  the  United  Statos  has  been  more 
widely  known,  or  attracted  a  greater  share  of  the  public  atten- 
tion, than  the  Right  Rev.  John  Hughes,  who,  under  the  title  of 
Bishop  of  Basileopolis,  became,  in  1838,  the  Coadjutor  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York.  Possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
talent  of  discerning  the  public  mind,  and  its  constant  fluctua- 
tions, able  and  eloquent  as  an  orator  and  controversialist,  he 
will  rank  among  the  statesmen  no  less  than  among  the  prelates 
of  America.  Born  in  Ireland,  of  a  family  originally  Welsh,  but 
long  identified  with  the  Scoto-Irish,  he  was  the  son  of  a  farmer 
of  moderate  but  comfortable  means,  and  owed  his  early  training 
to  the  care  of  a  kind  and  careful  mother,  to  whom  he  thus  beau- 
tifully alludes  in  his  letter  to  General  Cass :  "  The  first  person 
whose  acquaintance  I  made  on  this  earth  was  a  woman.  Her 
pretensions  were  humble,  but  to  me  she  was  a  gi'eat  lady — nay, 
a  very  queen  and  empress.  She  was  more — she  was  my  earliest 
friend ;  my  visible,  palpable  guardian-angel.     If  she  smiled  ap- 


■H. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


411 


)rk— He  o\  ■rtrthroM's 
)mmon  ('(.u/i  '11 — St. 
GftUitzin— The  Re- 
resulting  from  it— 
of  Right  Rev.  John 
on  of  the  Sisters  of 
Ichools— Progress  of 
ito  an  archieplscopal 
nclal  Council  of  New 
snator  Brooks— Ret- 


has  been  more 
public  atten- 
er  the  title  of 
)adjutor  of  the 
nt  degree  the 
nstant  fluctua- 
roversiaHst,  he 
ng  the  prelates 
illy  Welsh,  but 
on  of  a  farmer 
early  training 
he  thus  beau- 
le  first  person 
woman.     Her 
at  lady — nay, 
as  my  earliest 
,e  smiled  ap- 


I 


proval  on  mo,  it  was  as  a  ray  from  Paradise  sIicmI  on  my  liciit. 
If  she  frowned  disapproval,  it  seemed  like  a  partial  or  lolal  eclipse 
of  the  sun."* 

Without  friend,  protector,  or  patron,  he  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1817,  and  proceeded  to  Mount  St.  Mary's,  in  order  to 
enter  as  a  seminarian.  No  vacancy  existed,  and  for  a  time  lio 
pursued  his  studies  privately ;  but  soon  obtained  entrance,  Jiud 
for  seven  or  eight  years  prosecuted  his  studies  and  taught  the 
various  classes  committed  to  his  care.  Ordained  priest,  he  was 
sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  here,  for  eleven  years,  won  general  re- 
spect and  esteem  by  his  zealous  discharge  of  the  duties  of  a 
Christian  pastor.  Ho  erected  St.  John's  Church  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing wants  of  the  Catholic  public,  and  established  a  perma- 
nent reputation  as  a  controversialist  by  his  discussions  with  the 
Rev.  John  Breckenridge,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  had 
publicly  challenged  the  Catholics  to  discuss  the  great  question 
of  religion  with  him.  The  controversy  was  at  first  carried  on 
in  writing,  on  the  subject,  "  Is  the  Protestant  religion  the  religion 
of  Christ  ?"  and  Mr.  Breckenridge,  after  some  months,  defeated 
at  every  step,  virtually  abandoned  the  field.  He  subsequently 
returned  to  the  attack,  and  insisted  on  an  oral  discussion.  Again 
did  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes  meet  the  chajnpion  of  I'rotestantism, 
on  the  question,  "  Is  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  in  any  or  in 
all  its  principles  or  doctrines,  inimical  to  civil  or  religious  liber- 
ty ?"  and  again,  by  the  common  consent  of  all  impartial  judges, 
most  signally  triumphed  over  his  adversary,  upholding  Uie  truth 
of  history,  showing  not  only  that  the  Catholic  Church  had  never 
sanctioned  persecution,  much  less  made  it  a  part  of  her  creed, 
but  that  Protestantism  I'ose  by  rapine  and  persecution,  and  only 
by  violence  had  been  able  to  maintain  its  existence.f 


*  Reply  to  General  Cass,  p.  15. 

t  Oral  Discussion  on  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion, 


Philadelphia,  1886. 


li 


i 


412 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHIMICH 


Tlu'so  (lisciisHioiiH  wcni  not  tVuitUsss  :  lh»>y  otiiibliMl  tlie  Rev. 
Mr.  lluglu's  to  gain  (o  tlm  Church  itiniiy  rrolcstaiit  raruincs,  utid 
ttiiK^ng  other  persons  of  eniiiiciiec,  |)r.  \V.  K.  Ilonu-r,  u  phy^i' 
eiuii  whosti  cniiiu'iit  rcpulalioii  tor  inotlical  seii-iuie  was  hy  no 
ineims  eontined  to  his  native  eountry,  an<l  whose  anatonjieal 
works  enjoy  the  hi«;hest  reputation. 

Tlie  a})i)ointniunt  of  J»r.  Hughes  us  Coadjutor  of  New  York 
was  a  new  era  for  Catholicity  in  that  extensive  diocese.  lie 
t-anie  at  a  moment  whi'U  trustijcism  was  in  open  array  against 
the  P^piscopal  authority,  and  ho  resolved  to  overthrow  a  sys- 
tem so  much  at  variance  with  the  discipline  of  the  ("hurch,  and 
■which  had  in  the  United  States  proved  so  prejudicial  to  religion. 
As  the  trustees  claimed  to  lioM  the  treasury  and  so  rule  the 
house  of  (Jod,  he  at  once  appealed  to  the  faithtul,  whom  the 
trustees  could  in  no  sense  be  said  to  represent ;  and  advised  the 
people  to  give  their  collection,  not  to  their  rebellious  trustees,  but 
to  their  duly  appointed  pastors,  whoso  support  wjis  by  the  laws 
of  the  Church  obligatory  upon  them.  Following  up  the  ground 
taken  in  the  ]>astoral  address  of  ]>ishop  Dubois  to  the  congrega- 
tion of  his  Cathedral,  in  February,  1838,  he  presided  at  a  meet- 
ing, and  so  cleaily  develoi)ed  the  real  state  of  the  question,  that 
it  was  determined  that  the  whole  system  should  in  future  be 
made  to  conform  to  the  canon  law.  Another  cause  soon  led  to 
the  complete  overthrow  of  trustceism  :  this  was  the  extravagance 
of  the  expenditure  of  the  Church  moneys  by  the  boards  of  trus- 
tees, and  the  bankruptcy  of  five  boards  of  as  many  churches  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  out  of  eiglit,  the  whole  number  then  ex- 
isting. Of  these,  tliat  of  St.  Peter's,  in  Barclay-street,  owed 
debts  amounting  to  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  churches  were  all  assigned  or  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hughes,  who  purchased  them  in 
his  own  right,  to  save  them  from  desecration.  The  State  gov- 
ernment, which  had  viewed  with  satisfaction  this  sad  state  of 


IN  TIIK    UNITED  STATEB. 


413 


:il.li'(l  the  Ivi'V. 
Hit  families,  unci 
onier,  u  pliy^'i' 
iico  wiiH  by  i»o 
loau  nualoniical 

r  of  New  York 
^0  diot'osc!.     Ho 
•II  army  against 
ivorthrow  a  sys- 
tho  (Church,  and 
licial  to  religion, 
and  so  rule  tlio 
thful,  whom  tho 
and  advised  tho 
ions  trustees,  but 
A  as  by  the  laws 
g  up  the  ground 
to  the  congrega- 
sided  at  a  meet- 
lie  question,  that 
lid  in  future  be 
[luse  soon  led  to 
he  extravagance 
li  boards  of  trus- 
nny  churches  in 
Lumber  then  ex- 
|lay-street,  owed 
;y  thousand  dol- 
the  sheriff,  and 
:chascd  them  in 
The  State  gov- 
liis  sad  state  of 


Catholin  affair^,  producivl  by  (he  operation  of  th(!  act  of  nligious 
incorporation,  seems  to  have  regretted  that  the  Itishop  should 
Inive  been  able  to  secure  the  buildings  again  for  Catholic  wor- 
ship,  and,  as  wo  shall  see,  passed  one  of  the  most  (.extraordinary 
nets  which  can  be  found  on  the  statute-books  of  any  civilized 
country;  an  act  which  pretendc^d  to  take  from  the  bishoj)  prop- 
erty wliich  ho  liail  purchased,  and  restore;  it,  without  compensa- 
tion, to  tho  very  boaids  of  tr»ist<H'S  whost!  legal  title  had  been 
legally  sold  by  operation  of  law  !* 

Soon  after  his  consecration,  Bisliop  Huglies  resolved  to  visit 
Europe,  and  obtain  the  succor  which  religion  needed  in  tho  dio- 
cese to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  For  this  purpose,  in  tho 
course  of  the  year  IHUQ  he  visited  France,  Austria,  and  Italy, 
everywhere  impressing  those  whom  ho  met  with  his  rare  ability. 
Having  obtained  nmch  momentaiy  aid  and  formed  his  plans  for 
the  religious  institutions  of  his  diocese,  ho  returned  without  de- 
lay to  his  post.  There  a  (juestion  of  great  importance  had  at 
last  come  before  tho  public,  and  one  in  whicli  the  bishop  could 
not  be  a  mere  spectator.  New  York  liad  its  free  schools,  sus- 
tained by  the  State,  and  its  public  schools  under  tho  control  of  a 
private  society,  but  receiving  public  moneys  to  carry  on  their 
establishments.  Not  one  of  these  schools  was  smdi  that  a  Cath- 
olic parent  could  conscientiously  send  a  child  to  it.  In  all,  the 
reading  of  the  mutilated  version  of  the  Scriptures,  termed  the 
King  James's  Bible,  was  obligatory,  and  it  was  expounded  by- 
Protestant  teachers ;  in  all,  the  school-books  contained  slanders, 
insults,  and  absurdities  in  regard  to  Catholics  and  their  religion  ; 
and  such  schools,  supported  by  public  money,  were  tho  oidy  free 
schools  in  which  tho  poorer  Catholics  could  obtain  the  rudi- 
ments of  knowledge.     Had  Protestantism  been  the  established 


*  Sec  his  Letter  on  the  moral  causes  that  have  produced  the  evil  spirit  ot 
tho  times,  p.  10, 


414 


THE    CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ft  f 


'Hi 
ih  i' 


I  I 


religion  of  the  State  of  New  York,  this  would  have  been  en- 
durable ;  but,  as  the  law  established  no  religion.  Catholics  pro- 
tested. So  flagrant  did  the  wrong  appear,  that  a  Senator  of  the 
State  inserted  an  article  in  a  Catholic  paper  mooting  the  ques- 
tion of  a  regulation  of  the  schools  so  as  to  make  them  free  to  all. 
The  Catholics  began  to  hold  meetings,  formed  an  association,  and 
devised  plans  for  obtaining  relief;  the  governor  of  the  State  called 
attention  to  the  matter  in  his  message,  but  the  New  York  Com- 
mon Council  rejected  the  memorial  of  the  Catholics.  It  became 
the  great  question  of  the  day. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  Bishop  Hughes  return- 
ed to  his  See.  To  prevent  the  matter  from  being  made  a  politi- 
cal hobby,  he  resolved  to  attend  the  meetings,  and,  exercising  his 
right  as  a  citizen,  did  so.  "  In  these  meetings,"  we  quote  his 
own  language,  "  the  question  was  discussed — the  imperfect  edu- 
cation afforded  by  our  own  charity  schools — the  vast  number 
wdio  could  not  be  received  at  them — and  would  not  be  sent  to  the 
schools  of  the  Public  School  Society,  on  account  of  the  strong 
anti-Catholic  tendencies  which  they  manifested  through  -the  me- 
dium of  objectionable  books,  prejudiced  teachei's,  and  sectarian 
influences."* 

The  most  important  of  these  meetings  was  held  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1840  ;  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  presided,  and  the  bishop 
for  the  first  time  addressed  the  Catholics,  and  advised  careful  but 
firm  action.  On  the  10th  of  August  an  address  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  to  their  fellow-citizens  appeared,  to  which  the  Public 
School  Society  issued  a  reply.  Then,  in  a  general  meeting,  the 
Catholics,  on  the  21st  of  September,  adopted  a  petition  to  the 
Common  Council  for  relief,  which,  after  exposing  the  sectarian 
character  of  the  Public  Schools,  and  the  fact  that  Catholics  had 


*  Letter  on  the  moral  causea  that  have  produced  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
iiraes,  p.  8. 


'4 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


415 


have  been  en- 
Catholics  pro- 
Senator  of  the 
oting  the  ques- 
lem  free  to  all. 
issociation,  and 
:he  State  called 
3W  York  Com- 
3s.     It  became 

lughes  return- 
made  a  politi- 
exercising  his 
we  quote  his 
imperfect  edu- 
)  vast  number 
.  be  sent  to  the 
of  the  strong 
'ough  -the  me- 
|and  sectarian 

In  the  20th  of 

the  bishop 

\d  careful  but 

the  Roman 

the  Public 

[meeting,  the 

:ition  to  the 

he  sectarian 

atholics  had 


spirit  of  tlio 


boen  compelled  to  erect  schools  of  their  own,  which  they  offered 
to  submit  to  the  conditions  of  the  law  with  regard  to  religious 
teaching,  concluded  thus  :  "  Your  petitioners,  therefore,  pray  that 
your  honorable  body  will  be  pleased  to  designate  as  among  the 
schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  Common  School  fund,  upon 
complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  law,  or  for  such  other 
relief  as  to  your  honorable  body  shall  seem  meet,"  St.  Patrick's, 
and  six  other  schools  which  they  named. 

To  this  petition  two  remonstrances  were  made — one  by  the 
trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  the  other  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  pastors    of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.     On  the  29th  of  October,  1840,  the  parties  appeared 
before  the  Common  Council.     On  the  side  of  the  Catholic  peti- 
tionei's,  the  bishop  set  forth  their  claims  and  answered  the  re- 
monstrances ;  the  Public  School  Society  had  employed  two  emi- 
nent lawyers,  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Esq.,  and  Hiram  Ketchum, 
who  now  answered  the  arguments  of  the  bishop :  the  former 
by  an  historical  view  of  our  Common  Schools,  and  an  attempt 
to  show  that  the  Public  School  Society,  being  good  and  suffi- 
cient, was  entitled  to  a  monopoly  in  the  matter  of  public  in- 
struction ;  the  latter  wrecked  his  reputation  as  an  advocate  by 
personal  attacks  on  the  bishop,  whom  he  could  style  only  "  the 
mitred  gentleman,"  and  by  completely  ignoring  the  petition,  and 
representing  it  as  an  attempt    >!  the  Catholics  to  deprive  Prot- 
estants of  the  Bible.     These  were  followed,  on  subsequent  even- 
ings, by  Rev.  Drs.  Bond,  Bangs,  and  Reese,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Rev.   Dr.  Knox,    of  the   Reformed   Dutch 
Church,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church,  each  of  whom,  in  turn,  seemed  to  suppose  that  the 
Catholic  religion  was  the  subject  of  discussion,  and  commented 
on  its  tenets  with  all  the  zeal  of  partisans.   "When  all  had  ended, 
the  bishop  rose  to  reply.     Summing  up  the  real  question,  so 
much  lost  sight  of,  he  said  :  "  It  is  the  glory  of  this  country,  that 


il  i 


f^    ! 

i    1 

i 

) 

'  1 

t 

1 

1 

1 

1 

i; 

'   1 

1  • 
i  1, 

u. 

ii' 

>:   ;  1 


416 


THE   CATHOLIC   CIIUKCH 


when  it  is  found  that  a  wroncj  exists,  thorc  is  a  power,  an  irre- 
sistible power,  to  correct  tlie  wrong.  They  have  represented  iw 
as  contendincj  to  brinrj  the  Catliolic  Scriptures  into  the  Public 
Schools.  This  is  not  true.  They  have  represented  us  as  ene- 
mies to  the  l*rotestant  Scriptures,  '  without  note  or  comment ;' 
and  on  this  subject  I  know  not  whether  their  intention  was  to 
make  an  impression  on  your  honorable  body,  or  to  elicit  a  sym- 
pathetic echo  elsewhere  ;  but  whatever  their  object  was,  they 
have  represented  that  even  here  Catholics  have  not  concealeu 
their  enmity  to  the  Scriptures.  Now,  if  I  had  asked  this  hon- 
orable board  to  exclude  the  I'rotestant  Scriptures  from  tlio 
schools,  then  there  might  have  been  some  coloring  for  the  cur- 
rent calumny.  But  I  have  not  done  so.  I  say — Gentlemen  of 
every  denomination,  keep  the  Scriptures  you  reverence,  but  do 
not  force  on  me  that  which  my  conscience  tells  me  is  wrong.  I 
may  be  wrong,  as  you  may  be  ;  and,  as  you  exercise  your  judg- 
ment, be  pleased  to  allow  the  same  privilege  to  a  fellow-being 
who  must  appear  before  our  common  God,  and  answer  for  the 
exercise  of  it.  I  wish  to  do  nothing  like  what  is  charged  upon 
me ;  that  is  not  the  purpose  for  which  we  petition  this  honor- 
able board  in  the  name  of  the  community  to  which  I  belong. 
I  appear  here  for  other  objects ;  and  if  our  petition  be  granted, 
our  schools  may  be  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  public; 
authorities,  or  even  of  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Public  School  Society  ;  they  may  be  put  under  the  same  super- 
vision as  the  existing  schools,  to  see  that  none  of  those  phan- 
toms, nor  any  grounds  for  those  suspicions,  which  are  as  unchari- 
table as  unfounded,  can  have  existence  in  reality.  There  is, 
then,  but  one  simple  question — Will  you  compel  us  to  pay  a  tax 
from  which  we  can  receive  no  benefit,  and  to  frequent  schools 
which  injure  and  destroy  our  religious  rights  in  the  minds  of  our 
children,  and  of  which  in  our  consciences  we  cannot  appro\  e  ? 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


417 


)ower,  an  wre- 
oprosoiited  us 
to  the  Public 
;ed  lis  as  ene- 
or  comiTient;' 
cntion  was  to 
t  elicit  a  sym- 
ect  was,  thev 
not  concealeu 
sked  this  hon- 
res   from    the 
ig  for  the  cur- 
Gentlemen  of 
?rcnce.  but  do 
3  is  Avrong.     I 
;ise  yonr  judg- 
i  fellow-being 
iswor  for  the 
sharged  upon 
in  this  honor- 
ich  I  belong. 
|n  be  granted, 
>f  the  public 
ntcd  by  tho 
same  super- 
those  phan- 
as  nnchari- 
There  is, 
Ito  pay  a  tax 
iient  schools 
blinds  of  our 
>t  appro\  e  ? 


1'hat  is  tho  simple  question."*  lie  then,  in  a  most  able  speech, 
answered  all  his  opponents,  legal  and  clerical,  and  showed  con- 
vincingly that  not  a  solitary  principle  laid  down  by  him,  or  laid 
down  in  the  petition,  had  been  refuted  by  them,  and  that  there- 
fore there  must  be  something  powerful  in  the  j)lain,  unsophisti- 
cated, simple  statement  of  the  petition,  when  all  the  reasoning 
brought  against  it  had  left  it  just  where  it  was  before. 

Simple  as  the  petition  of  tlie  Catholics  was — th;  I  their  schools 
conforming  to  the  law  should  enjoy  n  share  in  the  public  moneys 
monopolized  by  the  Public  School  Society,  a  Protestant  institu- 
tion which  ignored  the  law — the  question  was  misstated  in  tho 
hall  of  the  Common  Council,  and  has  been  misrepresented  a 
thousand  times.  The  fact  that  the  Catholics  proposed  to  sub- 
ject their  schools  to  State  supervision,  and  conform  the  teac^hing 
to  the  State  requirements,  is  perpetually  overlooked,  and  the 
charge  that  Catholics  asked  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  repeated 
in  a  thousand  shapes.  Tlie  question  was  no  longer  before  the 
tribunal  of  justice;  it  had  been  evoked  before  that  of  prejudice 
— what  wonder  that  the  petition  of  the  Catholics  was  reje(;ted? 
But  the  blow  had  be«n  struck  :  the  fact  was  clear  that  the 
Catholic  bishop  had  met  triumphantly  the  best  array  of  legal 
and  clerical  talent  in  the  city,  and  though  the  Common  Council 
might  decide  against  him,  the  whole  country  beheld  him  with 
admiration.f 

Tlie  Catholics  had  anticipated  the  result ;  but  the  step  taken 
was  necessary  before  submitting  the  case  to  the  Legislature  of 
the  State.  In  due  time  petitions  were  forwarded,  signed  by  a 
large  number  of  citizens.  Catholics  and  Protestants,  natives  as 
well  as  foreigners.  The  prayer  of  this  petition  Avas  received  fa- 
vorably, because  it  seemed  to  be  but  reasonable  and  just.     A 


*  Report,  1 ,  4. 


t  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  CaUoHc  Church,  111. 
18* 


:i   ! 


li      ! 


i   41; 


'       .1 


418 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


l)ill  was  drawn  up  wliicli  passed  the  Assembly,  but  at  llic  close 
of  tlic  session  was  lost,  in  the  other  house  !  All  now  looked  for- 
ward to  the  next  Legislature ;  and  no  calumny  that  ingenuity 
could  deviso  was  left  untried  to  prejudice  the  popular  mind 
against  the  Catholics,  and  to  lead  to  a  resistance  to  any  chango 
in  the  law.  As  the  election  drew  nigh,  the  opponents  of  five 
education  called  on  voters  to  require  the  candidates  of  both  po- 
litical parties  to  pledge  themselves  to  refuse  the  prayer  of  the 
petitioners.  The  candidates  of  the  Whig  party  did  so;  the 
candidates  of  the  Democratic  party,  to  which  the  great  mass  of 
the  Catholics  belonged,  did  so ;  and  the  Catholics  saw  an  elec- 
tion approach,  at  Avhicli  every  candidate,  without  waiting  for  a 
discussion  in  the  legislative  halls,  had  decided  to  deny  them  jus- 
tice. No  alternative  was  left.  Those  who  asked  schools  free  from 
sectarian  bias — where  teachers  should  not  be  allowed  to  attack 
any  creed,  where  no  school-books  should  slur  on  any  church, 
where  neither  Protestant  nor  Catholic  Bible  shoidd  be  forced  on 
those  who  disowned  it — resolved  to  adopt  a  new  and  indepen- 
dent ticket.  As  the  bishop  well  remarked,  "they  would  deserve 
the  injustice  and  degradation  of  which  tUey  complained,  if  they 
voted  for  judges  publicly  pledged  beforehand  to  pass  sentence 
against  them."* 

This  step,  totally  unexpected  by  the  Democratic  party,  which 
counted  the  Catholics  as  its  willing  slaves,  left  them  in  a  minor- 
ity, and  they  were  totally  defeated.  The  election  showed  the 
numerical  force  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  Whigs  now  sought  to 
gain,  the  Democrats  to  recall  them.  All  the  politicians  who  had 
scorned  the  petitions  of  the  Catholics  became  suddenly  sensible 
that  the  old  school  law  was  very  defective,  and  before  long  a 
new  act  was  passed,  erecting  ward-schools  on  a  far  more  equita- 

*  See  the  whole  matter  in  the  important  and  interesting  debate  on  the 
claim  of  the  Catholica  tea  portion  of  the  Common  School  Fund,  New  York, 
1840. 


4 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


419 


t  al  tlic  clope 

)w  looked  for- 

liat  ingenuity 

popular  inirid 

0  any  change 

•nents  of  free 

!s  of  botli  po- 

)raycr  of  the 

did  so ;   the 

l^reat  mass  of 

saw  an  elcc- 

ivaiting  for  a 

2ny  them  jus- 

ools  free  from 

^'ed  to  attack 

any  churcli, 

be  forced  on 

md  indepcn- 

onld  deserve 

ined,  if  they 

ss  sentence 

;irty,  which 
in  a  minor- 
Ishowed  tlie 
[v  sought  to 
ins  who  had 
nly  sensible 
fore  Ions:  a 
lore  equita- 

lebate  on  the 
New  York, 


ble  basis.  "Experience  has  since  shown,"  says  Bishop  Bayley, 
"  that  the  new  system,  though  administered  with  as  much  fair- 
ness and  impartiality  as  could  be  expected  under  the  circum- 
stances, is  one  which,  as  excluding  all  religious  instruction,  is 
most  fatal  to  the  morals  and  religious  principles  of  our  children, 
and  makes  it  evident  that  our  only  resource  is  to  establish 
schools  of  our  own,  where  sound  religious  knowledge  shall  be 
imparted  at  the  same  time  with  secular  instruction." 

We  have  seen  in  Philadelphia  how  this  question,  distorted 
and  misrepresented,  was  made  by  fanatics  the  means  of  organiz- 
ing a  new  political  party,  which,  under  the  name  of  Native 
Americans,  for  a  time  carried  the  elections,  and  left  as  monu- 
ments of  its  history,  riots,  rebellion,  murder,  devastation,  and 
sacrilege.  Then  and  since,  whenever  it  has  been  the  policy  of 
the  fanatic  to  fan  the  flame  of  ignorant  bigotry,  the  couduct  of 
the  bishop  has  been  made  the  subject  of  misrepresentation  and 
accusation.  In  his  letter  to  the  Hon.  James  Harper,  Native 
American  mayor  of  the  city  in  1844,  he  says,  and  defies  contra- 
diction :  "  I  have  never  asked  or  wished  that  any  denomination 
should  be  deprived  of  the  Bible,  or  such  version  o  the  Bible  as 
that  denomination  conscientiously  approved  in  <  nr  common 
schools.  I  have  never  requested  or  authorized  the  blackening  of 
the  public  school  books  in  the  city  of  New  York."  Charged 
with  intriguing  with  political  parties,  he  denied  it  absolutely, 
and  says :  "  When  no  alternative  was  left  to  the  people,  long  de- 
prived of  the  rights  of  education,  but  to  vote  for  candidates 
bound  by  pledges  to  deny  them  justice  and  even  refuse  them  a 
hearing,  and  this  on  the  very  eve  of  the  election,  I  urged  thero 
with  all  the  powers  of  n.y  mind  and  heart  to  repel  the  disgust- 
ing indignity  of  this  stratagem.  I  told  them  to  cut  their  way 
through  this  circle  of  fire,  with  which  the  opponents  of  the 
rights  of  education  narrow-mindedly  and  ungenerously  sur- 
rounded them.     I  told  them  that  they  would  be  signing  and 


420 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


■  U' 


I  •) 


sealing  the'  own  degradation  if  they  voted  for  men  pledged  to 
refuse  thr  >n  even  the  chance  of  justice.  But  then  no  party — no 
individual  of  any  parly — had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  prompt- 
ing of  this  advice  but  myself.  It  sprang  from  my  own  innate 
sense  of  duty — my  own  conception  of  the  rights  of  a  constituency 
in  a  free  government." 

Such  is  in  brief  the  history  of  the  famous  School  Question  in 
New  York — a  question  simple  in  itself,  but  which  Providence 
permitted  to  be  the  instrument  of  evoking  to  life  and  strength 
the  dormant  hatred  of  Catholicity  slumbering  in  the  bosom  of 
American  Protestantism.  The  words  of  fieedom  and  equality 
had  been  repeated  till  they  were  actually  supposed  to  exist ;  but 
when  Catholics  sought  to  make  them  realities,  they  found  that 
they  were  mere  conventional  symbols,  names  of  political  myths. 

The  bishop's  labors  for  education  were  mJt  limited  to  this. 
Like  his  venerable  prelate,  he  sought  to  erect  a  college,  and  ad- 
vanced rapidly  the  arrangements  of  St.  John's  College  at  Ford- 
ham,  which  be  had  purchased  in  1839.  To  his  great  consolation 
and  the  joy  of  the  Catholics  of  his  diocese,  it  opened  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1841,  the  Rev.  John  M'Closkey,  the  present  Bishop  of 
Albany,  a  graduate  of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  universally  esteemed 
for  his  talents,  prudence,  and  amiableness,  being  the  first  presi- 
dent. Under  his  administration  it  soon  acquired  a  name  which 
it  has  ever  preserved.  He  was  soon,  however,  succeeded  by  the 
able  and  learned  Dr.  Ambrose  Manahan,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent clergymen  in  the  United  States,  and  then  by  the  Rev.  John 
Harley,  a  man  peculiarly  fitted  for  his  post,  who  introduced  an 
admirable  system  of  study  and  discipline,  and  won  in  a  singular 
degree  the  affection  and  esteem  of  the  pupils. 

The  same  year  that  beheld  the  opening  of  this  new  college 
saw  rise  beside  it  a  beautiful  building  for  the  theological  sem 
nary  of  the  diocese — another  fruit  of  the  zealous  labors  of  tL 
bishop.    This  institution  has  ever  since  continued  in  a  flourishing 


I 


r 


a- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


421 


pledged  to 
party — no 
10  prompt- 
)wn  innate 
nstituency 

(uestion  in 

^'rovidence 

1  strength 

bosom  of 

;l  equality 

exist;  but 

ound  that 

al  mytlis. 

;d  to  this. 

e,  and  ad- 

3  at  Ford- 

)nsolation 

the  24th 

Bishop  of 

esteemed 

rst  pvesi- 

10  which 

d  by  the 

ost  emi- 

ev.  John 

need  an 

singular 

college 
|al  sem 
of  tl 
^■ishing 


condition,  having  in  1845,  when  the  college,  as  we  shall  sec, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  re- 
ceived professors  of  that  celebrated  Order,  under  whose  zealous 
care  nearly  fifty  priests  have  been  formed  to  the  ecclesiastical 
state. 

The  introduction  of  a  religious  Order  capable  of  giving  the 
highest  order  of  educati  u  to  young  Catholic  maidens  was  an- 
other object  of  the  zealous  prelate,  and  he  succeeded  in  obtaining 
from  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  a  colony  of  their  Order. 
The  Sisters  selected  by  the  Mother-general  of  the  Order  arrived 
in  1841,  and,  founding  a  house  of  their  Order,  immediately 
opened  an  academy  at  the  corner  of  Houston  and  Mulberry 
streets,  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy. 
Of  the  origin  of  this  society  we  have  spoken  elsewhere,  as  well 
as  of  their  rules  and  system  of  education,  both  based  on  the  ad- 
mirable discipline  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Superior  of  the 
community  who  founded  the  convent  in  New  York — now  be- 
come the  mother  house  of  the  province,  or  vicariate  of  the  North 
— was  Madame  Elizabeth  Gallitzin,  whose  history  wo  cannot  but 
insert.  Born  in  Russia,  of  that  princely  family  which  had  given 
the  American  Church  one  apostle,  she  was  brought  up  in  the 
Greek  Church,  although  her  mother  had  secretly  embraced  the 
Catholic  faith — a  circumstance  of  which  she  was  not  aware  imtil 
her  fifteenth  birthday.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  her  mother 
having  called  her  into  her  private  apartment,  disclosed  to  her  the 
secret  of  he:  religion.  The  communication  deeply  aflflicted  the 
young  Elizabeth,  and,  withdrawing  from  her  mother's  presence, 
she  wept  bitterly  at  what  she  considered  a  heinous  crime.  After 
some  time  she  began  to  reflect  upon  the  causes  that  had  led  to 
her  mother's  change,  and  unable  to  discover  any  other,  she  con- 
cluded it  must  have  been  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits, 
several  of  whom  visited  the  house.  Filled  with  the  deepest 
anxiety,  she  said  to  herself,  "  If  these  h3rpocrites  have  so  seduced 


i 


I 


«/!'■ 


'I 


'      li 


I 


'f  I 

fl; 


J 


ii 


i22 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


my  excellent  and  prudent  mother,  what  effect  will  not  their  influ- 
ence have  on  me  !"  and  she  recalled  to  mind  with  terror  that  one 
was  actually  her  preceptor  in  the  Italian  tongue.  She  sought 
with  earnestness  a  protection  against  the  dangers  by  which  she 
felt  herself  surrounded,  and  a  sudden  thought  flashing  upon  her 
mind,  she  resolved  to  write  a  solemn  oath  never  to  change  her 
religion,  and  to  recite  it  daily.  Having  done  this  she  Wfis  more 
composed,  and  retiring  to  rest,  slept,  as  she  herself  expresses  it, 
"  better  than  usual."  From  this  time  the  tone  of  her  existence 
seemed  changed.  Her  mother's  fearful  secret,  the  discovery  of 
which  involved  exile  or  death,  hung  heavily  upon  her  mind,  and 
though  during  the  daytime  she  appeared  gay,  at  night  she 
watered  her  couch  with  tears.  Deference  for  her  mother  and 
fear  of  wounding  feelings  sacred  in  her  eyes,  however  mistaken 
and  criminal  she  m^ght  consider  them,  imposed  likewise  a  re- 
straint upon  her  intercourse  with  their  Jesuit  visitors,  and  par- 
ticularly her  preceptor.  The  latter  was  in  the  habit  of  presenting 
her  pictures,  rosaries,  etc.,  and  though  her  very  soul  loathed 
these  emblems  of  Catholic  faith,  yet  through  affection  for  her 
mother  she  accepted  them. 

To  a  mind  like  hers,  this  appearance  of  deceit,  however  justi- 
fiable in  its  motives,  was  intolerable.  She  finally  resolved  to  re- 
turn her  preceptor  his  gifts,  with  a  note  explaining  her  reasons, 
and  she  did  so,  after  submitting  the  note  to  her  mother,  for  not- 
withstanding her  repugnance,  she  never  forgot  the  respect  due 
her  parent. 

Some  months  after,  her  Italian  preceptor  having  died,  her 
mother  requested  her  to  attend  the  funeral  service.  Elizabeth 
consented,  though  unwillingly.  As  she  entered  the  church  she 
seemed  to  hear  an  interior  voice  say,  "  You  hate  the  Catholics, 
but  you  will  one  day  be  a  Catholic  yourself."  This  thought  so 
distressed  her  that  she  wept  bitterly.  Still  the  dictates  of  her 
naturally  noble  heart  soon  reminded  her  that  it  was  wrong  to 


ft' 


IN  THE   T..,ifED  STATES. 


423 


lieir  influ- 
:  that  one 
le  sought 
k^hich  she 
upon  her 
ange  her 
was  more 
Dresses  it, 
existence 
icovery  of 
nind,  and 
light  she 
)thei'  and 
mistaken 
nse  a  re- 
and  pav- 
>resenting 
I  loathed 
for  her 

vcr  justi- 
'ed  to  re- 
reasons, 
for  not- 
■)ect  due 

^ied,  her 
Elizabeth 
irch  she 
latholics, 
[ught  bo 
of  her 
Irong  to 


indulge  feelings  of  hatred  against  any  one.  Conscience  re- 
proached her  for  her  dislike  of  Catholics  and  Jesuits,  and  falling 
on  her  knees,  she  poured  forth  fervent  prayers  for  them. 

Another  incident  painful  to  her  heart  soon  occurred.  One  of 
her  near  relatives  became  a  Catholic.  Elizabeth  was  much 
grieved,  but  with  characteristic  generosity  forbore  to  censure  in 
any  manner  her  cousin's  conduct.  "She  tliinks  her  course 
right,"  said  she,  "and  therefore  I  commend  her  for  acting  as  she 
has  done."  This  lady,  in  a  conversation  with  the  princess,  pressed 
her  to  read  some  books  whose  titles  she  mentioned,  and  even 
presented  her  with  one,  offering  to  send  her  the  others  whenever 
she  should  desire  them.  Elizabeth  took  the  book  through  cour- 
tesy, but  rephed  to  the  offer,  that  being  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  her  religion,  she  did  not  anticipate  having  any  need 
of  information  concerning  other  creeds.  These  were  her  words 
in  the  morning;  the  ensuing  night  beheld  her  a  Catholic  in 
heart  and  truth. 

Returning  home,  for  the  first  time  she  hesitated  to  renew  her 
oath — that  oath  which  for  twelve  months  no  weariness  could  in- 
duce her  to  omit.  A  feeling  of  its  rashness  came  over  her ;  she 
paused  ere  she  knelt  to  repeat  the  solemn  words — a  powerful 
grace  was  busy  in  her  heart.  She  laid  tiie  paper  aside  and  re- 
tired to  rest.  Tumultuous  and  various  thoughts  agitated  her ; 
she  could  not  sleep,  and  finally  rising  from  her  restless  couch, 
her  eyes  fell  upon  the  book  presented  her  in  the  morning.  She 
opened  it ;  nor  had  she  read  many  pages  before  the  full  light  of 
truth  beamed  upon  her — she  fell  upon  her  knees — she  was  a 
Catholic. 

But  arguments  were  necessary  to  meet  the  objections  that 
would  be  urged  against  her  faith.  She  hastily  wrote  the  follow- 
ing words  to  her  cousin  :  "  Send  me  your  books — pray  for  me, 
and  hope."  Some  hours  after  she  was  summoned  to  meet  her 
mother,  to  whom  she  had  yet  to  communicate  her  joyful  secret. 


'   if 


1 , 1 

'1 

i 

ill 

1 

]i 

i 

•J 

I 


i    I 


424 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Her  full  heart  was  relieved  by  n  flood  of  tears,  amid  which  she 
poured  forth  to  lier  rejoicing  parent  the  recital  of  all  that  had 
passed  within  her.  during  that  eventful  night. 

The  young  princess  had  received  from  God  a  favor,  great  in- 
deed, but  his  mercy  in  her  regard  did  not  stop  liere.  She  heard 
the  voice  of  his  grace  speaking  to  her  heart,  and  calling  lier  to 
his  spouse.  Long  years,  however,  elapsed  before  she  could  re- 
spond, the  czar  obstinately  refusing  permission  to  leave  the  coun- 
try ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  age  of  thirty  that  she  was  free.  Sho 
then  immediately  oftered  herself  to  the  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  was  received  into  the  Roman  novitiate,  where  she 
edified  all  by  her  fervor  and  exact  fidelity  to  the  rules. 

After  her  profession  she  discharged  with  great  prudence  many 
liigh  oflEices  in  the  Society,  and  was  finally  sent  by  the  Superior- 
general  to  America  as  Visitatrix  of  the  Order.  Two  special  ob- 
jects were  also  intrusted  to  her  zeal  and  care — the  foundation  of 
the  house  at  New  York,  and  of  the  Pottowatamee  mission.  The 
former,  by  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  the  worthy  bishop,  she 
soon  accomplished;  and  having  seen  the  academy  frequented  by 
pupils  of  the  highest  order,  she  set  out  for  the  West,  and  by  long 
and  laborious  journeys  reached  the  Pottowatamee  village.  There 
her  indomitable  energy  and  the  grace  of  Him  to  whom  she  had 
devoted  her  life,  and  for  whose  interest  she  labored,  triumphed 
over  every  obstacle.  This  mission  still  exists,  the  work  of  predi- 
lection of  the  Order. 

Madame  Gallitzin  then  proceeded  to  visit  the  houses  of  her 
Order  in  the  South,  and  twice  sailed  from  Paris  to  New  Orleans 
in  the  discharge  of  her  duties,  edifying  all  by  her  piety,  her  inex- 
haustible charity,  and  readiness  to  serve  others.  Ever  forgetful 
of  herself,  she  endeajvored  in  her  humility  to  conceal  her  great 
talents ;  but  her  life,  a  living  picture  of  religious  virtues,  only 
showed  them  a  clear  relief.  On  arriving  at  St.  Michael's,  in 
Louisiana,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1843,  two  of  the  Sisters 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


425 


were  attacked  by  the  yellow  fever.  Maclaiue  Uallitzin,  like  a 
good  mother,  although  actually  WMstiiig  under  a  slow  fever, 
nursed  them  herself,  and  yielding  to  the  violence  of  a  cruel  dis- 
ease, passed  on  the  8th  of  December  to  celebrate  with  Mary  tho 
festival  of  her  Immaculate  Conception  in  union  with  that  Sacred 
Heart  of  wliich  she  had  been  so  devoted  au  adorer  and  servant 
on  earth. 

Her  singular  energy  of  character,  her  piety,  her  singular  ability 
in  conveying  instruction,  her  gay  and  affable  demeanor,  as  well 
as  her  solid  virtues  and  extraordinary  gilts,  will  long  remain  en- 
graven on  the  hearts  of  her  Sisters. 

Madame  Bathilde  succeeded  her  at  New  York,  but  it  is  chiefly 
to  the  present  Superior,  Madame  Aloysia  Hardey,  that  tho  com- 
munity owci  its  extension.  In  1844,  finding  the  city  too  con- 
fined, they  removed  to  Astoria ;  but  that  locality  had  its  disad- 
vantages, and  in  184G  the  ladies  were  so  fortunate  as  to  acquire 
the  estate  of  the  late  Jacob  Lorillard,  at  Manhattanville,  Avhere 
they  established  themselves  in  the  ensuing  year.  Since  then 
they  have  founded  a  new  convent  in  Seventeenth-street,  in  tho 
city  itself,  and  houses  at  Albany  and  Buffalo,  of  whicb  we  shall 
speak  hereafter.  Their  efforts  in  the  cause  of  education  have 
been  most  successful,  and  the  number  of  candidates  shows  how 
easily  vocations  to  the  religious  or  ecclesiastical  state  might  be 
cultivated.  Their  labors  are  not  confined  to  the  direction  of  tlie 
elegant  academies  to  which  wo  have  thus  far  alluded;  they 
almost  maintain  gratuitous  schools,  and  direct  one  of  the  largest 
parish  schools  in  the  city. 

The  bishop  had  thus  supplied  the  two  great  wants  under 
which  religion  had  so  long  suffered ;  the  other  necessities  now 
invited  his  attention.  The  number  of  French  and  German  Cath- 
olics in  this  city  was  considerable,  and  churches  were  needed  for 
their  special  use.  Fortunately  at  this  moment  arrived  one  who 
relieved  the  bishop  of  one  of  these  difficulties,  and  reared  a  shrine 


r 


426 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I 


tor  the  i'x«.'Iiisivc  use  of  the  Ciitliolics  of  Franco  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Tile  (Jernuuis  were  the  next  objt'ct  of  the  Holitntudo  of 
the  Uishop  of  Xew  Yorl<.  We  have  seen  tlie  zeal  of  the  Hev. 
Mr.  J{all('iiior  in  erootinjif  tlie  ehurcli  of  St.  Nicliolaa;  in  18.10  he 
also  reared  tiiat  of  St.  John  tlie  Baptist  in  Thirtieth-street,  but 
(lilUcultii's  ensued,  and  the  bishop  sought  to  obtain  a  religious 
Older  who  would  aceept  the  mission  and  devote  themselves  to 
it.  lie  applied  to  the  Rev.  Father  Alexander,  Superior  of  the 
Kedoinplorists  at  Baltimore,  who,  in  1842,  sent  Father  Gabriel 
Itunijiler  to  take  ch;irge  of  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas ;  but  as 
the  trustees  would  not  cede  the  house  to  the  Order,  Father 
Rumpler  purchased  lots  in  Third-street,  where  the  Society  erect- 
ed a  convent  and  school-*,  with  a  temporary  chapel,  replaced  in 
1853  by  that  noble  pile,  ihe  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer, 
in  which  the  oflices  of  religion  are  performed  with  a  pomp  and 
display  most  consoling  to  the  hearts  of  the  exiled  Germans. 

The  Redemptorists  of  New  York  have  also  erected  the  Church 
of  St.  Alphonsus  for  the  use  of  the  Germans  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  city,  and  have  another  house  in  Buti'alo.  Although  devoted 
in  a  special  manner  to  the  use  of  the  German  Catholics,  they 
were,  through  the  excellent  Father  Kumpler,  instrumental  in 
bringing  into  the  Church  a  number  of  young  Episcopalian  semi- 
narians, whom  the  Tractarian  movement  liad  led  to  the  study  of 
Catholicity.  Of  these,  Mr.  Arthur  Carey  was  considered  the 
leader ;  and  so  notorious  were  his  Catholic  views,  that  when 
the  Protestant  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  about  to  ordain  liim,  two 
of  the  attendant  clergymen  protested  against  any  such  mockery 
as  ordaining  a  minister  of  their  body  one  who  held,  that  the 
decrees^  of  the  Council  of  Trent  were  binding.  Mr.  Carey  was 
ordained,  but  died  soon  after  in  ('uba,  without  having  embraced 
♦he  truth  ;  for  one  link  had  been  wanting,  and  that  was  devotion 
to  Mary.  Many  of  the  other  seminarians  were  now  removed  or 
retired,  but  their  course  was  not  clear  before  them.     One  of 


|l 


I  i 


IN   THE   I'XITEI)  STATES. 


42T 


ty  of  Now 
rusitiulo  of 
'  the  Rev. 
n  1839  hrt 
■street,  but 
1  religious 
nisolvos  to 
lior  of  tho 
icr  Gabriel 
as ;  but  as 
ler,  Father 
L'iety  erect- 
repluced  in 
Redeemer, 
pomp  and 
rmans. 
lie  Churoli 
wer  part  of 
li  devoted 
olics,  they 
mental   in 
Han  semi- 
c  study  of 
idered  the 
ihat  when 
him,  two 
moekery 
that  the 
larey  was 
mbraced 
devotion 
lOved  or 
One  of 


thorn  ap[»lied  to  Fatlicr  Riimi)ler,  who,  learning  in  a  few  mo- 
ments his  po'sition,  sliowed  him  the  danger  in  which  ho  stood, 
th«!  iic<!('ssity  of  saving  liis  soul,  and  the;  further  necessity  of  using 
etVorts  lor  that  end.  Otiuns  now  sought  the  liedcmptorist 
Father,  who,  after  instructing  them  in  their  catechism,  received 
their  abjuration.  Anxious  to  (Kvote  themselves  to  the  service 
of  (jiod  in  his  (Jliurch,  several  of  them  sought  adnjission  into  tho 
order,  and  proceeded  to  Helgium  to  perform  their  novitiate. 
After  their  ordiiuition,  most,  if  not  all  of  these  Fathers,  have  re- 
turned to  the  United  States;  other  Americans  have  entered  the 
order,  and  there  are  a  sullicient  number  to  give  missions,  after 
the  manner  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  The  most  eminent  of  these  zealous  clergymen  aro 
Fathers  I.  T.  Ileeker,  author  of "  Questions  of  the  Soul,"  Father 
A.  Ilewit,  translator  of  the  "  Life  of  the  Princess  Borghcse," 
Father  Walworth,  son  of  the  last  Chancellor  of  tho  State  of  New 
York,  the  compiler  of  the  '  Mi.-,  lon  IJook,"  and  Father  Deshon, 
late  a  captain  in  the  Univ  d  States  army.*  The  necessity  of  such 
missions  is  evident,  a.nl  th'<  calls  on  the  Fathers  are  more  than 
they  can  meet;  others  will,  however,  join  them,  and  with  the 
attention  thus  calk^l  to  this  means  of  reviving  the  faith,  the  mis- 
sions of  the  Jesuits,  Lazarists,  and  other  orders  are  acquiring  a 
new  develoj>nient. 

The  young  seuiinarians  of  whom  we  have  spoken  ^n.  re  not  the 
only  converts  produced  by  the  celebrated  Oxford  or  Tractariaa 
movement.  Some  account  of  this  is  therefore  need  id  here.  A 
number  of  the  clergymen  and  professors  at  Oxford,  by  the  study 
of  the  Fathers,  became  convinced  that  the  Reformation  was  a 
vatal  error,  but  hoped  to  show  that  the  Anglican  Church  was 
still  a  part  of  tho  Church  Catholic,  and  might  resume  much 

*  Besides  those  now  Fathers  of  tlie  Order,  the  talented  editor  of  the  Free- 
Sinii'B  Journal,  the  llcv.  Mr.  Wadhams,  and  others,  were  among  the  semi- 
narians. 


■!•;    . 


i  I  . 


428 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


that  had  been,  as  they  would  have  it,  not  rejected,  but  merely 
lost  sight  of  in  times  of  trouble.  The  antiquity  of  the  Mass 
was  evident,  with  its  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  the  power 
in  the  Church  of  forgiving  sins  no  less  so.  A  host  of  other  Cath- 
olic dogmas  were  in  the  same  position.  To  prepare  the  public 
mind  to  resume  these  points,  and  to  cut  off  Anglicanism  from 
all  connection  with  the  continental  reformers,  these  Oxford  di- 
vines began,  in  1833,  to  issue  a  series  of  tracts,  and  at  the  same 
time  published  many  devotional  works  drawn  from  Catholic 
sources,  with  translations  of  our  ascetical  works,  and  lastly,  a 
most  beautiful  series  of  lives  of  the  early  English  Saints.  At 
the  same  time,  they  attempted  to  restore  the  monastic  orders  and 
Catholic  asceticism. 

Their  publications  excited  great  attention  both  in  England  and 
this  country,  from  the  singular  ability  of  the  writere,  among 
whom  were  Dr.  Pusey,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  Keble,  Faber,  New- 
man, Froude,  Dalgairns,  Oakley,  and  Ward ;  and  in  all  parts  a 
party  arose,  which  were  often  styled  Puseyites,  from  the  apparent 
leader  of  the  movement.  The  series  of  tracts  went  on  till  the 
ninetieth  appeared,  in  1841,  which  was  an  attempt  to  show  that 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  properly  understood,  were  not  at  vari- 
ance with  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  that  they 
were  no  bar  to  a  union  with  Rome.  So  strange  a  theory  roused 
a  storm  of  discussion ;  the  tracts  were  stopped,  pamphlet  after 
pamphlet  appeared  on  the  question.*  In  fact,  the  culminating 
point  had  arrived,  and  the  Ov^  d  divines  were  compelled  to 
forego  their  ground,  and  become  Protestants,  to  remain  Angli- 
can, or  submit  to  the  Holy  See,  in  order  to  be  really  Catholic. 
In  consequence,  many  clergymen  who  had  embraced  their  views, 
became  Catholics  in  the  following  years,  and  in  1845  the  Rev. 
John  Henry  Newman,  the  leader  of  the  movement,  and  author 


*  Cardinal  Wiseman's  Essays,  ii.  265. 


, '"i-m.. 


t  merely 
the  Mass 
16  power 
her  Cath- 
ie public 
ism  from 
xford  di- 
the  same 
Catholic 
lastly,  a 
ints.  At 
rders  and 

viand  and 
s,  among 
ber,  New- 
parts  a 
apparent 
n  till  the 
how  that 
at  vari- 
hat  they 
y  roused 
ilet  after 
inating 
•elled  to 
Angli- 
iatholic. 
Ir  views, 
llie  Rev. 
author 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


429 


of  the  celebrated  tract,  with  the  Rev.  William  George  Ward, 
author  of  the  "  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church,"  Rev.  Frederick 
Oakley,  Rev.  Robert  A.  Coffin,  and  Rev.  Frederick  W.  Faber, 
authors  of  many  of  the  Lives  of  the  English  Saints,  and  the  last 
a  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  poet,  were  received  into  the 
Catholic  Church.  Every  mail  brought  to  America  the  names  of 
new  converts  among  the  clergy,  and  lists  of  eminent  laymen 
who  followed  their  teachers.  In  this  wonderful  season  of  God's 
grace  and  mercy  in  England,  some  thousands  were  Avon  to  the 
faith.  As  the  Metropolitan  of  Halifax  well  observed,  "  Innu- 
merable souls,  which  had  long  flitted  over  the  deluge  of  unbelief, 
have  happily  returned  to  the  Ark  of  rest.  The  tempest-tost,  who 
were  '  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,'  have  at  length 
found  the  divine  security  of  Peter's  bark.  Egypt  has  been  de- 
spoiled, and  the  People  of  God  are  enriched  with  the  most  valu- 
able treasures.  Their  great  champions  and  noblest  ornaments 
we  have  made  captives  of  faith,  and  docile  members  of  God's 
Holy  Church.  Their  most  learned  doctors,  with  all  the  edifying 
simplicity  of  little  children  in  Christ,  have  descended  from  their 
chairs,  and,  seated  at  His  feet,  have  begun  to  learn  the  very  rudi- 
ments of  the  science  of  salvation,  in  His  school  of  humility  and 
meekness.  And  these  marvellous  changes,  these  magnificent  in- 
tellectual triumphs,  have  been  achieved  by  sound  arguments  from 
reason  and  Scripture,  aided  by  divine  grace  ;  most  certainly  not 
by  bribes,  coercion,  or  any  species  of  physical  force.  And  it  is 
not  alone  the  poor,  the  lowly,  the  simple,  the  untitled  and  ob- 
scure :  no ;  but  the  rich,  the  noble,  the  learned,  the  j  ions,  the 
truly  honest,  have  been  converted  ;  men  v/hose  great  liacrifices 
are  the  surest  test  of  the  depth  of  their  convictions,  and  the  un- 
impeachable sincerity  of  their  moti\  os."* 

With  the  progress   of  the  moNement  in  England,  that  in 

*  Most  Rev.  William  Walsh,  Pastoral  for  Lent,  1851. 


t      r 

u 


It 


iJ: 


r  I 


■I    SI 


430 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


America  kept  pace.  The  Tractarian  ideas  found  a  warm  advo- 
cate in  tlie  Right  Rev.  L.  S.  Ives,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop 
of  North  Carolina,  and  more  moderate  ones  in  the  two  Onder- 
donks,  Bishops  respectively  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  but 
a  sturdy  opponent  in  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  of  Ohio,  who  published 
a  large  octavo  work  to  refute  the  Catholic  ideas  put  forward  by 
the  Oxford  divines.  They  found  a  defender  in  Van  Brugli  Liv- 
ingston, Esq.,  a  layman  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  who,  in  a  work 
on  Oxford  divinity,  maintained  their  opinions. 

In  all  parts  of  the  country,  clergymen  began  to  introduce  the 
Oxford  ideas ;  and  Bishop  Ives  founded  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  one  community  of  which  was  at  Valley  Crucis,  a 
wild  and  beautiful  spot  in  Ashe  county,  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  North  Carolina.  Here,  in  a  most  neglected  part  of  the  coun- 
try, a  few  clergymen  and  devout  laymen  observed  a  community 
life,  laboring  for  their  own  sanctification,  find,  by  preaching  and 
visits  to  the  surrounding  country,  endeavoring  to  contribute  to 
the  salvation  of  soulg.  In  other  parts,  clergymen  exhorted  to 
confession,  and  endeavored  to  restore  the  sacrament  of  pen- 
ance. 

Such  matters  soon  excited  the  attention  of  the  Conventions, 
bodies  part  clerical,  part  lay,  which  rule  each  diocese  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States.  The  Bishop  of  Phila- 
delphia resigned;  his  brother  in  New  York  was  tried  on  a 
charge  of  improper  conduct,  and  suspended  from  the  adminis- 
tration of  his  diocese  ;  the  Bishop  of  North  Carolina  was  ar- 
raigned, but  his  explanations  for  a  time  appeased  his  opponents, 
although  the  Brotherhood  was  dissolved.*  When,  however, 
Mr.  Newman  and  the  other  leaders  actually  abjured  Protestant- 
isri,  their  example  was  followed  in  America ;  and  a  still  in- 
freasing  number  of  Episcopal   clergymen  have  embraced  the 


*  Hecker,  Questions  of  the  Soul,  84. 


m 


i 


a  warm  advo- 
scopal  Bishop 
e  two  Onder- 
adelphia,  but 
bo  published 
t  forward  by 
I  Brugh  Liv- 
10,  in  a  work 

itroduce  the 
hood  of  the 
'y  Crucis,  a 
west  corner 
)f  the  coun- 
community 
aching  and 
ntribute  to 
xhorted  to 
it  of  pen- 

'iiventicns, 
2se  in  the 

of  Phila- 
■ied  on  a 

adininis- 
a  was  ar- 
ppononts, 
however, 
'otestant- 

still  in- 
iced  the 


W  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


f^"th ;  among  whom  m       u  ^^^ 

*«  Rov.  J.  Murray  Forbo    '   d  ,      '  ^:  ""■  ^'"^^'■.  of  Baltimore  • 

fordinand  White,  Eev  J  v  TT    J-  """^  ^'^<^^ ;  the  Re,- 

^'-  Wheaton,  al,  L  xVew  W  T^':?'  ^"''-  ^■•-  ^"dh'a™  Z' 
and  lastly,  Dr.  Ive,,  the  BisW    fxr    "  "'"J""''  '■"  PMadei;hia  •' 
'-.tatlon  was  co„;ensate  t'h^s     ^  ^""'"'^  "''»-  'on^' 
'^  '"'justly  remarji  he  "abaL      ."  ™'""'^^'<»'.  ^J  "hieh 
-'ed  -  a  minister  ;f  the  ZlZtr  """''"  '"  ^'^^^"^ 
han  thirty  yea..,  a„d  as  a  b  tn    f P^'''''  °'"'^="'  f"' "«« 
-enty  and  s„„ght  late  in  life    dL"     '^  ""^  ^"^ -°«  ">an 
Holy  Ca*,„.       .,t„,,^j    with  1  1^"  "'  "  '">™''"  "'»  the 
P'y  peace       ,.,„,,i,„;    „d The'sir;'  '°'"""  "'"^'^^^  -™- 
•greatness  of  the  saerifioe  whM,  h  "°"  °^  '>''^  ^""I-"     The 

;ell  be  conceived,  and  w       n  ot  ;„!    'f.  "'""  '«  '"^^-  "^ 
abundance  of  the  grace  which  enabestr  *\^""'«'"y  ^^r  thi 
tnumph  over  every  human  consMel    "'  "''°"'  ^»  "^'^d  '<> 
D-.  Ives  proceeded  to  Rome  in  I85,      '?'."''  '"'•'y  P^-^j'^di^o. 
■"to  the  Chnrch,  hid  at  the  fet  of  tt'  "^r  ,'"""«  "^^^  '-'-ved 
;f  '-episcopal  rank.    Such  ,t  the  Tr    >'  ^''*"  "'^  '--g-a 
'■as  g.ven  to  the  Church  in  T„  >    ?'"""  ■''■»'™ent,  which 

"°West  of  its  clerCT   and      ^   "'' ""^  ^"-erica  some  of  7h. 
mn«!f    I,  "^'^^'s/j  and  most  talenfpr^  ^f  •.  ^^® 

"lust,  however,  return  to  th^    ,.    ^°*^^  «^  ^^^  writers*     We 
progress.  '"^  *^^  ^^^^cese  of  New   Fork    «r,^     . 

-liie  German  Catholics  hnri  i 
'"eRedemptorists,  but  theire::  T""^.'^  ^"- ''^ '"-eal  of 
f?--  *e.r  special  use.     We  have^     T  '""  "''"'°""'-  church 
7^.  preached  in  the  United  sT;'""''^'*  'P^^"  of  the  m,V 
o^Naney,  Monseigneur  d     Fo^"^"^  «"='<'='  by  the  Bis,; 


Canad, 


Ives,  Trials 


Miud. 


III 


Iff 

!''■■ 


I  « 


432 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


but  on  his  arrival  at  New  York,  in  February,  1841,  the  prelate 
opened  a  spiritual  retreat  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  in  a  sermon 
on  the  10th  o<  ipril,  proposed  to  the  French  residents  of  New 
York  the  erection  of  a  church,  to  be  attended  by  priests  of  their 
own  tongue.  "  In  this  great  city,"  said  he,  "  where  the  Irish  and 
German  Catholics  liave  recoiled  from  no  sacrifice  to  have  their 
own  churches  and  priests,  how  is  it  that  the  French,  so  famous 
for  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  alone  remain  indifferent  ?  They 
are  wanting  both  to  the  high  interest  of  their  salvation,  and  to 
those  of  their  nationality.  How,  in  fact,  can  this  nationality  be 
long  preserved  in  a  foreign  land,  without  the  powerful  bond  of 
religion  ?  This  church,"  he  concluded,  "  is  ardently  desired  by 
Bishop  Hughes,  the  holy  and  talented  administrator  of  the  dio- 
cese, for  which  he  expects  great  benefits  from  it.  What  a  pow- 
erful recommendation  !" 

It  is  certain  that  at  this  time  a  part  of  the  French  residents 
of  New  York  lived  in  great  religious  indifterence.  They  might, 
indeed,  have  frequented  the  various  Catholic  churches  which  the 
city  possessed,  1  ut  the  dread  of  an  English  sermon  was  a  sufficient 
pretext  for  many  to  remain  away  from  the  offices  of  the  Church. 
There  exists  in  the  city  a  Protestant  church  founded  by  Hugue- 
not refugees  in  1704,  nineteen  years  after  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes.  The  pastor  of  this  had  profited  by  the  apathy 
of  some  of  his  countrymen,  to  draw  them  to  his  church,  where 
they  were  charmed  to  hear  French  spoken.  He  performed  their 
marriages,  baptized  their  children,  so  that  ere  long  'railies  ori- 
ginally Catholic  became  insensibly  Protestant,  in  order  to  remain 
French.  It  was  therefore  highly  necessary  to  give  a  church  to 
a  population  menaced  with  a  loss  of  faith.  The  manly  eloquemce 
of  the  Bishop  of  Nancy  had  drawn  crowds  of  French  around 
his  pulpit ;  his  appeal  aroused  his  hearers,  and  the  next  day  a 
large  meeting  of  the  French  resolved  upon  the  erection  of  a 
church,  appointing  a  committee  to  receive  subscriptions.    Th© 


( I 


?|  ;    I 


the  prelate 
1  a  sermon 
ts  of  New 
sts  of  their 
e  Irish  and 
have  their 
,  so  famous 
nt  ?  They 
on,  and  to 
:ionality  be 
ul  bond  of 
desired  by 
of  the  dio- 
hat  a  pow- 

* 

ih  residents 
'hey  might, 
I  which  the 
a  sufficient 
he  Church. 
ly  Hugue- 
ion  of  the 
he  apathy 
eh,  where 
ed  their 
Imilies  on- 
to remain 
cliurch  to 
;loquenice 
around 
lext  day  a 
Ition  of  a 
Ins.    The 


3 


■ 


IX  THE   UNITED  STATF.5. 


433 


committee  soon  purchased  the  site  of  tlie  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, a  Protestant  church  then  recently  destroyed  h^r  fire,  and 
on  the  11th  of  October,  1841,  the  Consul-general  of  France,  Mr. 
de  la  For6t,  laid  the  corner-stone. 

The  generous  JBishop  of  Nancy  did  more  than  support,  by  his 
eloquence,  the  work  which  he  had  inspired  :  he  lent  six  thou- 
sand dollars  to  aid  in  constructing  the  church,  and  subsequently 
bestowed  the  principal  on  the  diocese.  The  Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Fuith  has  several  times  made  important  do- 
nations, and  by  these  diflferent  resources  the  French  church  was 
erected.  Since  1842,  the  Rev.  Annet  Lafont  has  been  the  zeal- 
ous pastor.  Ho  belongs  to  the  Institute  of  the  Fathers  of 
Mercy,  of  which  the  founder  in  France  was  Father  Rau- 
zan;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  church  will  still  be 
confided  to  some  zealous  congregation,  if  the  will  of  His 
Holiness  remove  Mr.  Lafont  from  the  theatre  of  his  labors. 
If  this  church  owes  much  to  the  Association  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Faith,  it  now  contributes  to  the  common  work  of  the  mis- 
sions, and  for  several  years  the  French  Catholics  have  responded 
to  the  appeals  of  the  American  bishops  in  favor  of  the  work. 
St.  Vincent's  Church  is  the  organ  of  communication  of  some  of 
the  oilier  churches  also;  and  we  find  that  in  1855,  with  the 
churches  of  St.  Peter  and  the  Nativity,  it  remitted  over  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  to  the  General  Council  of  the  Association.*  In 
order  to  make  the  society  known,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lafont  delivers 
an  English  sermon  on  the  feast  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  which  is 
attended  by  thousands,  and  is  always  followed  by  the  formation 
of  new  decades.  Ere  long,  we  trust  that  none  of  the  churches 
in  the  large  cities  will  forbear  to  join  in  this  movement,  and,  by 
forming  decades  of  members  of  the  Association,  help  to  swell 


*  Proceedings  of  <-ho  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul. 

19 


^ 

, 

t 

i- 

• 

J 

! 

1 

434: 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


by  their  alms  a  treasury  wliicli  has  given  so  much  to  the  strug- 
gling missions  of  the  United  States. 

This  is  not  the  only  work  in  which  the  French  Church  is  in- 
terested, and  which  has  been  established  by  the  zeal  of  its  pastor. 
To  him  New  York  is  indebted  for  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  whom  he  introduced  to  direct  his  male  parish  school, 
and  who  have  since  extended  so  rapidly.  The  church  has  also  a 
free  school,  where  eighty  girls  receive  an  excellent  education, 
and  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Association  annually  raises  the  funds 
necessary  for  its  support.  Like  the  similar  association  in  the 
other  churches,  these  ladies  also  visit  the  sick  and  relievo  the 
poor ;  but  none  equals  in  zeal  and  extent  of  its  labors  that  under 
the  patronage  of  the  apostle  of  charity. 

The  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  is  also  the  rendezvous  of 
the  missionaries  and  sisters  of  various  orders  arriving  from  France, 
invited  by  our  bishops,  and  who  are  overjoyed  to  find  a  priest  of 
their  own  land  to  guide  and  direct  them  in  a  country  where  all  is 
new  and  strange.  Father  Lafont  receives  his  fellow-missionaries 
with  the  most  cordial  hospitality,  and  takes  every  pain??  to  serve 
them  ;  but  his  rectory  is  more  confined  than  his  generosity,  and 
this  leads  us  to  remark,  that,  considering  the  numbers  of  priests 
and  sisters  who  arrive  at  New  York  from  Ireland,  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy,  on  their  way  to  various  parts  of  Canada  and 
the  United  States,  one  of  the  greatest  wants  is  a  good  hotel  kept 
by  a  Catholic,  where  French  and  German  snould  be  spoken. 
Such  a  hotel,  approved  by  the  episcopacy  of  the  United  States, 
might  welcome  these  pious  immigrants  on  their  arrival  from  Eu- 
rope, pass  their  baggage  from  the  Custom-house,  give  them  infor- 
mation as  to  the  city  and  country,  and  put  them  on  their  route 
to  their  different  destinations.  In  this,  the  modesty  of  religious 
women  consecrated  to  God  would  be  spared  many  affronts ;  their 
poverty,  heavy  expenses ;  their  confidence,  much  imposition.  As 
it  is,  these  good  sisters  are  often  abandoned  on  a  wharf,  amid  an 


f 


ji--- 


-y^... 


the  strug- 

ircli  is  in- 
its  pastor. 

Christian 
sh  school, 
has  also  a 
education, 

the  funds 
on  in  the 
elievo  the 
that  under 

dezvous  of 
3m  France, 
a  priest  of 
fhere  all  is 
issiouaries 
13  to  serve 
•osity,  and 
of  priests 
mce,  Ger- 
uada  and 
lotel  kept 
!  spoken. 
;d  States, 
from  Eu- 
m  infor- 
eir  route 
religious 
ts ;  their 
on.     As 
mid  an 


IX  THIS   UNITED  STATES. 


435 


^ 


indifferent  or  scornful  crowd,  then  bewildered  by  the  vulgar  run- 
ners, who  seek  to  lead  them  to  ^ow  houses,  or  to  sell  them  spu- 
rious tickets.  For  many,  the  first  hours  in  America  are  a  mar- 
tyrdom, such  as  they  had  never  painted  to  themselves  in  their 
most  fervent  contemplations. 

The  example  set  by  the  French  in  New  York  has  been  imita- 
ted in  other  parts  of  the  State  and  in  Vermont,  so  that  many  of 
the  cities  now  possess  churches,  where  the  Catholic  of  Franco 
may  hear  iu  his  own  tongue  the  religious  instruction  to  which  he 
has  been  accustomed. 

The  Bishop  ot  "^Sevv  York,  having  accomplished  so  much  iov 
the  well-being  of  his  diocese,  issued,  on  the  28th  of  July,  1842, 
a  circular  letter  convoking  a  diocesan  synod,  and  after  a  spiritual 
retreat  at  St.  John's  College,  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  New 
York  met  for  the  first  time  in  synod,  at  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral, 
on  Sunday,  the  28th  of  August.  "During  the  session,  twenty- 
three  decrees  were  put  forwaTd  in  regard  to  various  matters  of 
discipline,  and  the  administration  of  the  s;  .anents ;  many  prac- 
tices, such  as  the  baptism  of  infants  in  private  houses,  and  others 
of  a  similar  nature,  which  had  been  permitted  on  account  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  times,  were  entirely  forbidden.  The  most  strict 
and  salutary  regulations  were  made  in  regard  to  secret  societies, 
and  the  manner  of  holding  and  administering  ecclesiastical  prop- 
e  tv"  At  the  close  of  the  synod,  the  bishop,  in  a  pastoral  let- 
tei,  jommunicated  to  the  people  the  result  of  their  deliberations 
and  enforced  the  regulations.  Following  this  up,  he  subsequently 
issued  a  series  of  "  Rules  for  the  Administration  of  Churches  with- 
out Trustees,"  under  which  the  property  of  the  Church  in  the  dio- 
cese has  been  most  advantageously  managed,  notwithstanding  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  the  State  government  to  create  such  confu- 
siov.  as  would  lead  to  its  being  sacrificed.* 

*  Bishop  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  116-18. 


436 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  extent  of  the  diocese  made  it  ahnost  impossible  for  the 
uishop  to  give  his  supci..iteiideiice  to  all  the  rising  churches  and 
institutions.  He  solicited  a  coadjutor,  and  the  Rev.  John  McClos- 
key,  who  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  the  first  I'resideut  of  St. 
John's  College,  and  was  at  the  time  Pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  Church, 
was,  in  1844,  aj)pointed  Bishop  of  Axicrn,  and  Coadjutor  of  New 
York.  Two  other  of  the  clergy  of  New  York  were  at  the  same 
time  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity — the  Pcv.  William  Quarter, 
long  Pastor  of  St.  Mary's,  as  Bishop  of  Chicago,  and  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Byrne,  Pastor  of  St.  Andrew's,  as  Bishop  of  Little  Rock. 
The  three  prelates  were  consecrated  on  the  10th  of  March,  1844, 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  assisted  by  the  Bishops  of 
Boston  and  Richmond.  Bishop  McCloskey  at  once  entered  on 
his  duties,  and  joined  with  his  diocesan  in  all  his  plans  for  the 
good  of  the  faithful.  The  eminent  prelate  himself  was  at  this 
time  assailed  by  all  the  fanaticism  which  the  periodical  anti- 
Catholic  fever  could  evoke ;  but  w>ile  all  was  in  desolation  at 
Philadelphia,  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  in  a  letter  to  the  Mayor 
''  On  the  moral  causes  which  had  produced  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
times,"  set  the  Catholic  body,  and  himself  as  their  pastor,  so  truly 
and  faii'ly  before  the  public,  that  all  unanimously  condemned  their 
assailants.  A  striking  proof  of  the  respect  entertained  for  the  up- 
rightness and  ability  of  the  illustrious  Archbishop  of  New  York  is 
found  in  the  fact,  that  when  the  war  with  Mexico  began  to  be 
imminent,  the  Cabinet  at  Washington  actually  solicited  him  to 
accept  the  embassy  to  Mexico,  which  the  duties  of  his  diocese, 
and  a  feeling  that  the  exigency  of  the  case  did  not  call  him  to 
public  life,  compelled  him  to  decline.  Yet,  had  he  been  sent, 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  his  character  and  position 
■would  have  enabled  him  so  to  arrange  existing  difficulties  as  to 
save  both  countries  from  a  desolating  war.  No  aspirant  to  po- 
litical honors,  he  would  have  been  but  too  happy  to  sacrifice 
private  convenience  to  the  public  good ;  and  so  far  was  he  from 


4 


p 


a 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


437 


»  for  tho 
dies  and 
McClos- 
at  of  St. 
,  Church, 
r  of  New 
the  same 
Quarter, 
the  Rev. 
tie  Rock, 
ch,  1844, 
i shops  of 
itered  on 
19  for  the 
IS  at  this 
[ical  auti- 
)lation  at 
le  Mayor 
•it  of  tho 
•,  so  truly 
ued  their 
ir  the  up- 
York  is 
,n  to  be 
him  to 
diocese, 
him  to 
en  sent, 
position 
,es  as  to 
it  to  po- 
sacrificb 
he  from 


seekiug,  that  ho  declined  a  high  position,  for  which  ho  deemed 
so  many  better  fitted  than  himself.* 

The  interest  which  Catholicity  takes  in  the  country,  and  its  at- 
tachment to  it,  is  evinced  in  its  many  benevolent  institutions ; 
and  to  refute  the  calumnies  vi  its  accusers,  the  bishop  added  one 
more  to  tho  many  with  which  lie  had  endowed  his  diocese.  In 
December,  1845,  ho  proceeded  to  Europe,  to  procure,  if  possible, 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools, 
and  Sisters  of  Mercy.  Ir  both  his  ap})lications  he  was  success- 
ful, and  returning  In  the  spring,  prepared  a  house  for  the  Sisters, 
who  arrived  on  the  15th  of  May,  1840.  Tho  object  for  wliicli, 
especially,  tho  devoted  pastor  wished  to  secure  them,  was  to  es- 
tablish a  house  in  which  young  Catholic  women,  when  out  of 
employment,  might  find  a  temporary  refuge,  where  their  inno- 
cence would  be  out  of  danger.  Tho  Church  had  constantly  to 
mourn  over  the  fall  of  many  who,  in  these  moments,  were  drawn 
to  places  where,  losing  virtue,  they  entered  a  headlong  course  of 
misery.  The  House  of  Protection  has  been  of  incalculable  ser- 
vice, and  furnishes  not  only  a  shelter  to  innocence,  but  enables 
families  to  obtain  excellent  servants ;  for  during  their  stay,  the 
Sisters  instruct  them  in  the  various  departments  for  which  they 
are  competent.  Nor  is  this  the  only  work  of  these  good  reli- 
gious :  they  conduct  a  poor  y^hool  for  girls,  visit  the  poor  and 
sick,  and  regularly  attend  ut  the  New  York  City  Prison,  the  no- 
torious Tombs,  where  they  instruct  the  unfortunate  women  de- 
tained there,  and  use  every  endeavor  to  draw  them  to  a  life  of 
virtue.  Criminals  condemned  to  death  are  also  objects  of  their 
peculiar  care,  and  that  care  has  been  rewarded  by  most  extraor- 
dinaiy  and  consoling  conversions.  The  community  of  Sisters  of 
Mercy  has  extended  to  other  cities,  as  we  have  before  stated.f 

*  Maury,  Statesmen  of  America,  243. 

t  Villanis,   Cenni    iBtorici    del    Trogreso  del   Cattolicismo    iiegli    Stati 
Uiiiti,  39. 


i 


438 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  arrived  in  Oct(jber,  but 
us  Jitlairs  were  not  satisfactorily  arrany;(,'d,  their  establishment  was 
for  a  lime  abandoned. 

In  seeking  to  recall  the  Society  of  Jesus  to  New  York,  thr 
bishop  wished  especially  to  confide  to  their  care  the  College  of 
St.  John,  which  he  had  so  firmly  established,  and  which  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  incorporated  on  tlio  10th  of  April,  184G, 
chiefly  through  the  exertion  of  Hon.  (Jeorge  Folsom,  a  gcatlemau 
of  literary  acquirements,  who,  though  elected  by  the  Anti-Catho- 
lic, would  not  stoop  to  any  bigoted  harassing  of  the  Catholics, 
Buch  as  has  disgraced  Massachusetts  with  regard  to  the  College 
of  the  Holy  Cross. 

The  Jesuits  of  the  Province  of  Paris,  who  had,  in  June,  1831, 
begun  a  mission  of  their  order  in  the  diocese  of  Bardstown,  at 
the  instance  of  the  sainted  Bishop  Flagot,  for  many  yeais 
directed  St.  Mary's  College,  in  Kentucky,  and  began  a  college 
and  church  in  Louisville.*  DifTiculties,  however,  compelled  them 
to  withdraw  from  the  diocese;  and  as,  in  1842,  other  Fathers  of 
their  province,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Father  Chazelle,  the  Su- 
perior of  tlie  mission  in  Kentucky,  had  founded  a  house  in  Mon- 
treal, and  subsequently  others  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  those  of 
Kentucky  sought  to  approach  these,  auvl  in  consequence  of  the 
application  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  removed  to  the 
diocese  of  New  York,  and  assumed  the  charge  of  the  College  of 
St.  John.  Father  Chazelle,  the  Superior  since  the  foundation  of 
the  mission,  died  at  Green  Bay  in  1845,  while  visiting  the  West- 
ern missions,  and  the  Rev.  Clement  Boulanger  was  appointed 
Superior,  and  remained  such  till  the  year  1855. 

The  direction  of  the  college  and  of  the  seminary,  which  was 
confided  to  their  care,  did  not  satisfy  the  zeal  of  the  Fathers  : 
they  sought  to  establish  a  church  and  college  in  the  city  itself; 


u 


*  Bishop  Spalding,  Life  of  Bisliop  Flaget,  270,  SOL 


ber,  but 
lent  was 

oik,  thf 

)11('1^0    of 

le  Logis- 
1,  184G, 
iitlcmau 
;i-Ciitho- 
11  tb  olios, 
1  Oollego 

le,  1831, 

stow  11,  ;it 

tiy  years 

I  college 

led  tbem 

tbers  of 

tbe  Sii- 

in  Mon- 

tbose  of 

of  the 

to  the 

liege  of 

lation  of 

West- 

oi  lit  eel 

Ich  was 

itliers : 

itself ; 


^ 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


439 


and  in  IRlT,  Father  Job n  I.urkin  liuving  acquired  a  cburcb  for- 
merly belonging  to  a  Protestant  eongrt'gatiun,  opened  it  under 
the  title  of  the  Most  Holy  Name  of  Jesus,  and  established  in 
connection  with  it  an  n<'ju1(jniy,  the  nucleus  of  a  future  college. 
Scarcely,  however,  liad  the  whole  been  successfully  organized, 
when  a  conllagration,  the  result  of  an  accident,  laid  the  building 
in  ashes.  The  Fathers  iininediately  transfeired  their  academy 
to  the  basement  of  St.  James  Church,  and  subsequently  to  a 
house  in  the  Tliird  Areuue  ;  but  having,  in  IBoO,  under  Father 
John  llyan,  purchased  a  site  on  Fifteenth-street,  they  began  the 
erection  of  a  college,  and  with  it  of  the  new  Church  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier.'*  The  college  was  completed  in  the  summer 
of  1850,  and  the  Fathers  entered  it  with  their  pupils  in  September. 
Its  plan  of  study  is  the  same  as  that  at  St.  John's,  embracing  a 
full  college  course,  with  the  usual  preparatory  classes ;  and  its 
pupils  are  usually  about  two  hundred  in  number. 

Besides  these  two  houses,  the  Fathers  have  in  the  State  a 
church  at  West  Troy,  and  another  at  Buftalo,  in  all  of  which 
they  labor  in  the  various  objects  of  their  institute.  This  mission 
numbers  in  the  various  dioceses  of  New  York  and  Canada  thirty- 
six  Fathers  and  twenty  scholastics. 

While  the  Bishop  of  New  York  was  thus  increasing  the 
means  of  saving  souls,  he  was  almost  deprived  of  the  oldest  re- 
ligious body  laboring  among  his  flock.  The  Sisters  of  Charity 
at  Emmetsburg  had  long  opposed  the  employment  of  members  of 
their  order  in  male  orphan  a^jylums,  and  finally  ordered  the  Sisters  at 
New  York  to  resign  the  care  of  those  which  they  had  so  long  direct- 
ed. In  consequence  of  representations  made,  the  Very  Rev.  Superior 
of  the  Sisters  addressed  a  circular  to  those  in  New  York,  author- 
izing all  who  chose,  to  remain,  and  organize  as  a  separate  body. 


*  Bishop  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  the  Island  of  New 
York,  p.  123. 


i 


l1 


"MkU'lAi 


440 


TIIK   CATHOLIC   CllUIUM 


Oi  tilt!  fifty  Sist«!ra  at  that  tiiiu-  in  (Iio  dioeesc,  thirty-oiio  remain- 
ed; and  on  tlio  8th  of  DocenilKr,  1840,  tho  fi-nst  of  tho  Iinnuic- 
ulnti)  Con(;e])tion  of  the  Blfssed  Vir^^in,  the  Kij^ht  Uev.  Bishop 
Tlnghr."'  (iii.Mtituted  tho  Sisters  t)f  Charity  in  this  dioccHO  a  local 
conimuiiity,  under  the  title  of  Sialers  of  (charity  of  St.  Vincent 
of  Paul — the  Sisters  adherini^  to  tho  oriufinal  constitutions,  rules, 
dross,  and  customs  of  the  order,  as  founded  by  Mother  Scton. 
Since  the  Sisters  of  Eniniets])urj;;  have  adopte<l  the  French  dress 
and  rides,  tlioso  of  New  York  now  represent  the  Society  M 
fc^unded  by  Mother  Scton.  To  add  [<<  their  consolation,  tho 
Holy  Father  has  ajtproved  their  organization,  and  granted  iheni 
nil  the  faculties  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  those  at  Euunets- 
burg. 

The  mother-house  of  this  body  was  fixed  at  Mount  St.  Vin- 
cent, a  delightful  spot  near  Harlem,  where  the  Sisters  speedily 
opened  an  academy,  which  has  proved  most  beneficial  to  tho 
city,  by  the  excellent  education  Avhiidi  it  affords.  Tliey  soon  after 
(in  1849)  established  in  the  city  itself  St.  Vincent's  Hospital,  which 
in  one  year  accommodated  nearly  a  thousand  patients,  lie- 
sides  these  institutions,  they  direct  six  orphan  asylums,  and  a 
great  number  of  free  schools.  The  missionary  establishments  in 
the  States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  depeniJent  on  Mount 
St.  Vincent  number  twelve ;  besides  which,  there  is  one  in  the 
province  of  Nova  Scotia.* 

Such  was  the  state  of  Catholicity  when,  in  184*7,  tlie  Holy 
See,  to  the  great  joy  of  tl}e  prelate,  divided  his  extensive  dio- 
cese, and  committed  the  See  of  Albany  to  his  able  coadjutor, 
Bishop  McCIoskey,  and  appointing  to  the  new  See  of  Buffalo  the 
Rev.  John  Tinion,  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions,  who  was 
consecrated  on  the   I7th  of  October,  1847,  in  the  Cathedral 


1 


1 
.a 


P 


■> 


*  Heroines  of  Charity  (Amoriciin  cd.),   p.  220.     Villanii,  Conni  I'<torici 
del  Progrcso  del  Cattolidsmo  uegli  Stuti  Uuiti,  p.  40. 


1 


l^A 


IN   THE   UNITED  aTATES. 


441 


Holy 
;q  dio- 
idjutor, 
lilo  tho 
lio  was 
Ihedral 


ll>*torici 


* 


\ 


Cliuivli  of  St.  Piitiick.  By  this  division  of  the  Stuto,  tlic  Bi^h()p 
of  New  York  nituiiietl  a*^  his  dioceso  tho  city  of  New  York,  with 
all  tho  coimtit'8  south  of  tho  forty-second  do^^rec  of  north  hiti- 
tudo,  and  the  iiortion  of  New  Jersey  previously  dependent  on  his 
See.  \Miil()  tho  newly  .•ijipointed  preliites  proceeded  to  orjLjjuii/cj 
the  dioceses  to  which  they  had  been  called,  ho  devoted  himself 
with  Ljreater  z<'h1  than  ever  to  the  iinproveinent  of  ihe  less  oxten- 
eivc  district  coididcd  to  his  care. 

We  havo  seen  liow  carnestlv  he  had  endeavored  to  vlant 
in  his  dioceso  the  Bn^thers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  and  how 
unsuccessful  his  etlbrt  proved.  Scarcely,  however,  had  the  di- 
vision of  the  dioceso  been  eftected,  when  ho  was  consoh  1  by 
seeing  them  permanently  introduced  by  tho  zeal  and  pcr'^ovci- 
anco  of  the  Rev.  Annet  Lafont,  wlio,  overcoming  the  obstacles 
previously  raised,  established  this  excellent  order  firndy  at  Now 
York.  In  1848  four  Brothers  conunenccd  a  house  near  the 
Church  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  iti  Canal-street,  where  the\  had 
charge  of  three  classes  and  an  attendance  of  two  hundrtnl  pupils. 
So  successfully  did  the  Brothers  conduct  this  school  that  its 
numbers  soon  augmented,  and  in  spite  ()f  their  scanty  accommo- 
dations they  were  obliged  to  yield  to  the  general  wish,  and 
opened  a  select  boarding-school.  Other  churcl.c  •  .'licited  mem- 
bers to  direct  their  parish-schools,  and  they  soon  iiad  under  their 
charge  those  of  the  Cathedial,  and  of  St.  Mary's,  St.  Stephen's, 
St.  Joseph's,  and  of  St.  Francis  Xavier's,  a  id  even  of  some  in 
Brooklyn.  Anxious  to  place  them  on  a  iirm  footing,  the  ^lost 
Reverend  Archbishop  encouraged  them  to  open  an  academy 
near  the  city,  to  be  in  a  manner  the  mother-house.  The  Acad- 
emy of  the  Holy  Infancy,  near  Manhattanville,  put  in  operation 
in  1853,  owes  its  existence  to  his  devotedness,  and  crowns  the 
labors  of  the  order.  Here  young  lads,  not  intended  for  college, 
are  trained  to  virtue  and  the  ordinary  branches  of  an  English 
sourse — the  necessity  of  such  an  institution  being  a  great  want 

19* 


««««£ 


442 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


li!   I 


noar  a  large  commercial  city,  wliere  many  parents  seek  to  fit 
their  sons  for  commercial  and  not  for  pvofijssional  pursuits. 
Tlie  Brothers  also  direct  a  select  academy  in  the  cit^',  and  in 
all  their  establishments  count  nearly  two  thousand  pupils — tho 
number  of  Brothers  beino;  thirtv-lhree.*" 

From  the  commencement  of  his  administration  the  zealou* 
bishop  had  constantly  multiplied  the  number  of  churches  around 
him,  and  freeing  the  older  from  debt,  enabled  them  to  erect 
school-houses  and  meet  other  parochial  wants.  In  1850  the  city 
of  New  York  alone  contitined  nineteen  churches,  and  the  rest  of 
the  diocese  forty-seven,  being  twenty  more  than  the  whole  State 
contained  at  the  time  of  his  appoinlmeut.  So  important  had 
New  York  become  that  the  Holy  Father,  by  his  brief  of  October 
3d,  1850,  erected  it  into  an  archiepiscopal  See,  with  the  Sees  of 
Boston,  Hartford,  Albany,  and  Buffalo  as  sutfragans.  The  Most 
Eeverend  Archbishop  soon  after  proceeded  to  Rome  and  received 
the  pallium  from  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Father.f 

In  a  short  time  a  new  division  was  proposed,  to  lighten  still 
more  the  burden  attached  to  the  See  of  New  York.  Part  of 
New  Jersey  depended  on  it  and  part  on  the  See  of  Philadelphia. 
The  Holy  See  deemed  it  now  foi  the  interest  of  religion  to  unite 
the  whole  State  of  New  Jersey  under  a  bishop  whose  See  was 
iixed  at  Newark,  and  appointed  as  tho  first  bishop,  the  Rev.  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  then  secretary  of  the  archbishop.  The  city  of 
Brooklyn,  which  had  become  one  of  the  largest  in  America,  was 
also  made  a  See,  and  conferred  on  the  Very  Rev.  John  Loughlin, 
vicar-oreneral  of  the  diocese.  The  two  prehites  were  consecrated 
in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  with  the  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand, 
Bishop-elect  of  Burhngtou,  by  the  Most  Rev.  Cajetan  Bedini,  pro- 
nuncio  of  His  Hohness,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1853. 


li" 


*  Sketch  of  the  Christian  Brothers  in  Catholic  Herald,  January  liS,  1856. 
U.  S.  Catholic  Almanac,  1848-1856. 
t  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  p.  127. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


443 


ip 


still 

»,art  of 

phia. 

unite 

io  was 

nines 

iitv  of 

was 

^lilin, 

rated 

'iand, 

pro- 


185G. 


As  these  Sees  were  also  in  the  province  of  New  York,  these 
prelates  attended  in  the  ensuing  year  the  fii-st  Provincial  Council 
of  New  York,  which  was  opened  on  Sunday,  the  1st  of  October, 
1854,  and  closed  on  the  following  Sunday.  The  Fathers  of  the 
Council  were  the  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Archbishop  of  New 
York,  presiding ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  M'Closkey,  BJ?hop  of  Albany ; 
the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Bishop  of  Boston ;  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  Timon,  Bishop  of  Buffalo ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly, 
Bishop  of  Hartford;  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Loughlin,  Bishop  of 
Brooklyn;  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  R.  Barley,  Bishop  of  Newark; 
and  Rt.  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  Bishop  of  Burlington.  Six 
decrees  were  passed,  expressing  their  devotion  to  the  Holy  See, 
(}onfirming  and  renewing  the  decrees  of  the  Councils  of  Balti- 
more. Besides  these  they  made  new  and  stringent  regulations 
as  to  church  debts,  urged  on  all  the  clergy  the  importance  of  the 
education  of  the  younger  portion  of  their  flocks,  and  regulated 
the  exercise  of  the  ministry  by  clergy  in  other  dioceses  than 
those  for  which  they  had  obtained  fsiculties.* 

The  meeting  of  the  prelates,  moreover,  enabled  them  to  de- 
cide on  many  points  of  discipline  of  which  the  enforcement  had 
been  delayed,  and  it  was  among  other  things  resolved  to  enforce 
the  publication  of  banns,  and  to  use  every  effort  to  establish  the 
Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  in  their  respective 
dioceses.  The  pastoral  letters  issued  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Council  on  the  8th  of  October,  announced  this  determination, 
and  after  reviewing  the  position  in  which  Catholics  were  daily- 
assailed  with  charges  of  unfaithfulness  to  their  country,  urged 
them  to  forbearance  and  obedience  to  the  laws.  "  Should  any 
portion  of  the  community  assail  you,  as  if  you  were  unworthy  to 
be  members  of  this  free  and  enlightened  republican  government, 
let  your  refutation  of  their  calumnies  be  less  in  writings  and  in 


*  Concilium  Neo  Eboraceuse  Priraum,  p.  20. 


]■ 


"111 


444 


I'l. 


Jill 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


words  thau  m  deeds  and  actions.  Your  first  duty  is  supreme 
loyalty  to  God  and  your  holy  faith.  Your  second — subordinate, 
but  in  its  own  sphere  equally  supicme — loyalty  to  your  country, 
in  all  her  vicissitudes  oi'  prosperity  or  adversity,  if  God  should  so 
permit  her  to  be  tried.  Next  to  your  country,  in  this  secondary 
order,  your  families,  your  kindred,  your  neighbors,  your  friends 
and  enemies,  your  countrymen  and  all  mankind."  This  letter 
also  urged  on  all  the  necessity  of  a  proper  and  Catholic  educa- 
tion of  the  young,  and  warned  them  against  the  idea  so  insidi- 
ously kept  np  by  the  enemies  of  Catholicity,  that  every  edition  of 
paper  which  circulated  among  Catholics  was  an  organ  for  which 
the  Church  or  its  prelates  wore  responsible. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  were  approved  by  the  Holy  See  on 
the  9th  of  July,  1855,  and  the  Holy  Father,  in  his  letter  to  the 
prelates  of  the  province,  commended  their  zeal,  and  urged  them 
to  unite  in  an  endeavor  to  establish  an  American  college  or  ec- 
clesiastical seminary  at  Rome.  "  By  its  means,"  says  the  Holy 
Father,  "  young  men  chosen  by  you,  and  sent  for  the  hope  of  re- 
ligion to  this  city,  will  grow  like  tender  plants  in  a  nursery,  ;in<l 
here  imbued  in  piety  and  learning,  will  draw  uncorrupted  doc- 
trine from  its  very  source ;  and  learning  the  rites  and  sacred 
ceremonies  from  the  custom  and  manners  of  that  Church  which 
is  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all,  and  formed  to  the  best  disci- 
pline, may  on  their  return  to  their  native  land  discharge  with 
success  the  duties  of  pastors,  preachers,  and  teachers,  edify  by  an 
exemplary  life,  instruct  the  ignorant,  recall  the  erring  to  the 
paths  of  truth  and  justice,  ami  by  the  aid  of  solid  learning,  re 
fute  the  fallacies  and  silence  the  madness  of  designing  men." 

The  wish  of  the  Holy  Father  found  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of 
the  American  Catholics,  and  one  gentleman — the  late  Nicholas 
Devereux,  of  Utica — proposed  that  a  hundred  of  the  more 
wealthy  Catholics  should,  by  each  subscribing  a  thousand  dol- 
lars, raise  a  fund  to  begin  the  college.     Tlie  others  will  doubtless 


P" 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


445 


soon  present  themselves ;  if  not,  a  general  collection  among  the 
Catholics  will  easily  give  the  necessary  means  to  give  America 
its  representative  college  at  Rome  beside  those  of  England,  Ire- 
land, France,  and  Germany. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Provincial  Council,  the  Most 
Reverend  Archbishop  resolved  to  visit  Roine  in  order  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion ;  and  with  the  Archbishops  of  New  Orleans  and  Baltimore, 
and  the  Bishops  of  Pittsbuig,  Buffalo,  and  Philadelphia,  he  had 
the  consolation  of  taking  part  in  the  solemnities  of  the  auspicious 
day. 

During  his  absence  the  enemies  of  Catholicity,  whom  a  period 
of  fanaticism  had  enabled  to  obtain  an  influential  position  in  the 
Legislature  of  the  State,  on  a  petition  of  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis 
Church,  Buffiilo,  without  examination  into  its  truth,  without  any 
discussion  of  the  question  by  committees,  but  exulting  in  a  pre- 
text which  enabled  them  to  hide  their  desire  of  overthrowing 
Catholicity  under  the  mask  of  zeal  for  the  public  good,  passed 
a  law  concerning  church  property  in  open  violation  of  common 
sense,  common  honesty,  and  constitutional  rights.  Assuming 
that  the  majority  of  the  Legislature  are  the  owners  of  all  real 
and  personal  property  in  the  State,  and  that  the  actual  owners 
are  merely  tenants  at  their  pleasure,  they  enacted  that  all  prop- 
erty held  by  any  person  in  any  ecclesiastical  oflSce  or  orders 
vshould,  on  his  death,  vest  in  the  occupants  or  congregation  using 
it,  if  they  were  incorporated  or  would  incorporate,  and  in  default, 
in  the  people  of  the  State.  Another  clause  provided  that  no 
deed  of  property  to  be  used  for  divine  worship  should  be  legal 
or  have  any  force  unless  made  to  a  corporation.  By  these  ab- 
surd enactments  no  individual  can  purchase  a  lot  for  a  chapel, 
and  though  he  pay  the  value  the  deed  is  inoperative ;  and  if, 
prior  to  the  passing  of  the  act,  any  individual  owned  property 
used  for  divide  worship,  it  would,  on  his  death,  pass  not  to  his 


*  f 


^i'; 


I'M 


;,,H 


::. 


416 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


lieii's,  buL  to  any  set  of  men  to  wliom  he  might  have  lei  it,  or 
^vho  liad  even  intruded  into  it.* 

The  absurdity  of  the  whole  Mtfiiir  was,  however,  but  a  cloak  to 
the  real  desire  of  seizing  the  property  of  the  Catholics  or  ham- 
pering them  in  its  use. 

Sc;arcely  had  the  act  passed  the  Senate  when  the  Most  Rev- 
erend Archbishop  returned  from  Europe,  and  having  read  the 
strange  documents,  including  petition,  act,  and  the  speeches 
made  in  regard  to  it,  deemed  it  due  to  himself  to  protest  against 
the  false  statements  in  regard  to  himself  on  which  it  was  based. 
These  were  chiefly  an  assertion  in  the  petition  of  the  trustees  of 
St.  Louis  Church  that  he  had  attempted  to  compel  them  to 
convey  the  title  of  their  church  property  to  him,  and  an  assertion 
made  by  Erastus  Brooks,  editor  of  the  New  York  Express,  and 
member  of  the  Senate,  that  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  owned 
property  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  an  amount  which  he  sup- 
posed not  much  short  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  The  plan  of 
the  schemers  was  evident ;  they  wished  to  represent  the  Cath- 
olic prelates  as  grasping  at  all  property,  and  as  already  owners 
of  immense  amounts. 

The  arclibi^liop  at  once  came  forward  and  so  completely  re- 
futed the  trustees  of  St.  Louis  that  they  admitted  that  he  never 
had  demanded  the  title  of  their  property.  Mr.  Brooks  attempted 
to  show  that  his  assertion  was  well  founded,  and  in  a  long  seiies 
of  letters,  full  of  abuse  and  old  records,  attempted  to  make  good 
his  case ;  but  the  archbishop  followed  him,  step  by  step,  and  so 
completely  exposed  the  unjust  means  used  to  pass  the  act,  and 
the  intrinsic  usurpations  of  the  statute  itself,  as  to  destroy  all  the 
adv :.iiJ<ige  which  the  enemies  of  Catholicity  wished  to  obtain. 
In  tue  letter  closing  the  controversy  he  says :  "  This  is,  I  think, 


*  See  this  ridiculous  law  in  the  Laws  of  the  State  ci"  New  York  for  1855^ 
oh.  280. 


n 

i 


! 


ily  re- 
liever 

ptcd 
series 
good 
nd  so 
b,  and 
11  the 

tain, 
hink, 

1 1855, 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


447 


the  first  stat  ate  passed  in  the  LegisUuui'o  of  Xcw  York,  since  the 
Ilcvohitior.,  which  has  for  its  object  to  abridge  the  religious  and 
encroach  on  the  civil  rights  of  the  members  of  one  specific  reli- 
gious  denomination.       Hitherto,   when   any   denomination    of 
Christians  in  the  State  desired  the  modification  of  its  laws  aflfect- 
ing  church  property,  the  Legislature  waited  for  their  petitions  to 
that  effect,  took  the  same  into  consideration,  and  when  there 
was  no  insuperable  objection,  modified  the  laws  so  as  to  accom- 
modate them  to  the  requirements  of  the  particular  sect  or  de- 
nomination by  whom  the  petition  had  been  presented.     Thus 
the  law  of  1*784,  though  still  on  the  statute  book,  has  become 
practically  antiquated  and  obsolete.     From  its  odious  and  often 
impracticable  requirements,  the  Episcopalians,  the  Presbyterians, 
the  Methodists,  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the  Quakers,  and 
perhaps  others  besides,  have  at  various  times  solicited  exemption 
at  the  hands  of  the  Legislature,  and  obtained  special  enactments 
more  in  accordance  with  their  faith  and  discipline  respectively. 
Now  this  antiquated  law  is  the  one  which  is  revived,  reinvigor- 
atcd,  strengthened  by  provisions  for  contingent  confiscation  of 
church  property,  and  forced  upon  the  Catholics  of  the  State  of 
New  York  as  sufficiently  good  for  them.    They  had  not  peti- 
tioned for  it ;  they  did  not  desire  it ;  they  will  not  have  it,  if 
they  can  lawfully  dispense  with  its  enactments." 

As  this  attempt  on  the  rights  of  Catholics,  and  the  discussion 
which  grew  out  of  it,  attracted  great  attention,  the  archbishop 
published  the  controversy,  with  an  introduction,  in  which  he  re- 
viewed the  whole  history  of  trusteeistr;  in  the  United  States,  and 
especially  the  evils  which  it  had  produced  in  St.  Pe^'-i's  Church, 
the  cradle  of  Catholicity  in  New  York.  The  faithful  have  in- 
deed been  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  miseries  of  that  system, 
that  not  a  single  congregation  in  any  part  of  the  State  showed 
the  least  approval  of  the  conduct  of  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis 
Church,  but  all  regarded  the  attack  as  an  i?isidious  attempt  to 


f^W^f': 


•"i 


448 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


defraud  them  of  the  shrines  which  wiih  so  many  sacrifices  thoy 
had  leared  to  the  servjce  of  Ahni;>-iity  God.* 

While  a  great  wrong  was  thus  jneditated,  tlie  archbishop  \vix6 
consoled  by  the  arrival  of  Iwo  new  colonies  of  religi'^iis  wovr.en 
to  aid  in  the  great  cause  of  education.  These  were  the  Urbulinas 
and  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross.  I'b.e  former  wit-e,  as  we  have 
seen,  no  stranger;,  in  the  diocese,  th^iii  order  i];iving  been  tho 
lirst  to  'siablisli  a  convent  in  New  York — that,  hov.  over,  had 
loUjg  h  an  closed  when  this  nc-w  colony  ui  the  Daught'^rs  of  St. 
Angela  M-jii.ci  appi  aT'ed,  It  v:onsisted  of  eleven  religious,  under 
the  giiidancf;  of  Mo  Iht  Magialen  Stehlca,  who,  ou  the  16th  of 
May,  1855,  founded  vi  Sum  IVujrrisania,  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester, the  eleventh  h'tn^:  of  t];eir  order  which  has  existed  in 
the  United  States.  Thv^se  IJtsuliaes  came  from  a  convent  at  St. 
Louis,  iv  the  State  of  Missouri,  founded  in  the  year  1848,  thr(>ugh 
the  zeal  and  exertions  of  Mother  Stehlen  and  two  other  Sist«irs, 
who,  with  the  permission  of  their  diocesan,  left  the  Ursuline  C'.)ii- 
vent  at  Oedensbiitg,  in  Hungary,  to  labor  in  America.  Joined 
b  V  otlicv  German  Sisters  from  the  convent  of  Landshut,  in  Ba- 
vari;j,  tiie  house  prospered  rapidly,  and  in  1855  was  enabled  to 
send  i..  rolony  to  New  York,  where,  as  elsewhere,  they  devote 
themselviis  to  the  education  of  children  of  their  own  sex.f 

The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  had  a  special  object  in  view. 
The  orphan  asylums  at  New  York  had  been  for  years  under  the 
direction  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  brought  up  the  children 
with  a  zeal  and  care  beyond  all  praise ;  but  on  aniving  at  a  cer- 
tain age  the  children  were  bound  out  as  apprentices,  and  many, 
thus  thrown  upon  an  unfeeling  v/orld,  were  lost  to  religion  and 


m 


*  Brooksiana ;  or  the  controversy  between  Senator  Brooks  and  Archbit 
Hughes,  grown  out  of  tho  recently  enacted  Church  Property  Bill ;  witi 
introduction  by  the  Most  Keverend  Archbishop  of  New  York.  !^"^pw  "i 
1855. 

\  Metropolitan  Magazine,  iv.  1.^' 


-Ji  »iui 


lies  tlK'.y 
ihop  'A'tuj 

A  WOViVPll 

we  liave 
been  the 
wor,  uad 
jrs  of  St. 
us,  under 
e  16th  of 
of  West- 
ixisted  in 
ent  at  St. 
,  through 
ii-  Sisters, 
dine  on- 
Joined 
it,  in  Ba- 
labled  to 
y  devote 

l-t 
in  view. 

Inder  the 

children 

I  at  a  cer- 

id  many, 

fion  and 


rchbif .    ' 

wit!    f-- 

|pw  "i    '  ■ 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


44i) 


I 


society.  The  object  of  a  new  establishment  was  to  teach  these 
girls  trades  in  a  house  under  the  direction  of  some  pious  Sisters, 
and  thus  enable  them  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  attain  an  age  less 
liable  to  be  deceived  before  eutenng  on  the  careex*  of  life.  The 
Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  chosen  for  this  work  were  founded  in 
France  by  the  Rev.  Basil  Mary  Anthony  Moreau,  in  the  year  1830, 
and  are  consecrated  to  the  Sorrowful  and  Immaculate  Heart  of 
Mary.  They  unite  teaching  with  the  various  works  of  mercy  as 
the  objects  of  their  institute. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  were  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  connection  with  the  Priests  of  the  Holy  Cross  about 
1842,  and  have  an  extensive  establishment  at  South  Bend,  Indi- 
ana, where  there  is  a  novitiate  of  the  order.  The  community  in 
Indiana  numbers  thirty-three  professed  Sisters,  thirty-eight  novi- 
ces, and  twenty-five  postulants.  Among  their  fields  of  labor 
there  which  they  have  faithfully  cultivated  is  the  manual-labor 
schools,  and  these  they  have  successfully  introduced  at  New 
York,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  they  instruct  the  female  orphans 
in  the  various  trades.* 

Thus  terminates  our  rapid  sketch  of  the  diocese  of  New  York, 
where  Catholicity  has  made  such  progresi?  under  the  episcopacy 
of  the  Most  Reverend  John  Hughes.  Of  him  it  has  been  well 
remarked,  "that  a  man  who  has  obtained  so  great  a  mastery 
over  his  fellow-man  must  have  greatness  in  him."  No  prelate  of 
the  Catholic  Church  has  ever  attained  in  the  United  States  a 
position  such  as  his :  Avith  a  singular  talent  for  unravelling  at  a 
glance  the  intrigues  and  movements  of  political  men,  and  of  fore- 
seeing the  re  'Its  of  public  measures  and  agitations,  his  writings 
are  ever  t'  -'v^ly,  profouad,  md  convincing.  Whenever  a  move- 
ment a'    .;ts  the  Church,  his  voice  is  li^iUned  to  with  attention 


*  De  Courcy,  Les  Servantej  de  Dieu  en  Canada,  p.  108.  Memoir  of  the 
■"lev.  Mr.  Cointet.  A  full  account  of  the  order  will  bo  given  hereafter,  in 
our  sketch  of  Inuluna. 


tiSJ:**' 


-nitelXrt-w*- 


VI 

r 

*l 

(  1 

,  i 

III 

liir 

!,  J 

<  It! 


I' 


I -I 


i\ 


I 


450 


THE   CATUOLir  OilURCH 


by  all,  and  tlic  press  from  one  extremity  of  the  country  to  the 
other  reproduces  and  comn)cnts  liis  words  as  those  of  a  public 
document.  No  man  accordingly  has  more  bitter  opponcfits,  or 
more  enthusiastic  adherents :  his  name  is  in  the  mouths  of  all, 
and  all  view  in  him  the  uncompromising  advocate  and  expound- 
er of  Catholic  views. 

Nor  has  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  attained  this  eminence 
by  deserting,  like  the  courtly  prelates  of  other  days,  his  episcopal 
duties  for  the  arena  of  secular  affairs.  Ilis  voice  is  never  raised 
but  in  matters  connected  with  the  Church,  and  Catholicity  in 
New  York  is  the  proof  of  his  devotedness  as  a  pastor.  Overcom- 
ing by  his  talents  the  dissensions  and  parties  that  existed  among 
the  clergy  and  laity,  he  gave  unity  and  power  to  the  Catholic 
body,  who  instead  of  wasting  their  energies  and  means,  no  less 
than  piety  and  devotion,  in  strife  and  rebellion,  have  since  sought 
to  enrich  the  State  with  churches,  colleges,  academies,  schools 
for  rich  and  poor, — with  asylums  where  every  human  ill  is  cared 
for, — cloisters  and  monastic  halls  where  a  higher  ascetic  feeling 
is  cultivated  or  welcomed.     These  are  his  eulogy. 


I 

i 


m 


i  ;  i 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


451 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

DIOCESES    OF    ALBANY,  BUFFALO,  D'.IOOKLYK,  AND    NEWARK. 

Diocese  of  Albany— Early  Catholic  adiiirs-  Church  and  Mission  of  the  Presentation  at 
Ogdensburg— St.  Itegis — Clmplatiis  at  Ticonderoga  ami  Crown  Point— Kev.  Mr.  de  la 
Vallniuro  and  his  church  on  Lake  Clianii'lain— Cliiirch  at  Albany — Early  pastors — 
lucroaso  of  Catholicity — Ai)i)ointinent  of  lit.  Rev.  Jolin  M'Closkey  as  first  bishop— 
Ills  aflininisitnition— Institutions— RoiiKiims  Orders— Jesuits— Ladles  of  the  Sacred 
Heart— Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools. 

Diocese  of  Buffalo — French  chiiiilains  at  Fort  Niagara — Early  Catholic  matters — Ap- 
pointment of  llie  Rt.  Rev.  John  Tiition  as  bisliop— The  Je.«uits,  Redetnptorlsts,  Fran- 
ciscans, Christian  Brothers,  and  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart— Sisters  of  Chaiity,  Sis- 
ters of  St.  Joseph,  Sisters  of  St.  Bridget  and  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity— State  of  the 
diocese. 

Diocese  of  Brooklyn— Catholicity  on  Long  Island— First  church  in  IJrooklyn— Progioss 
— Et.  Rev.  John  Loughlin  first  bishop — Visitation  Nup  ;  isters  of  Charity— Sisters 
of  Mercy — Dominican  Sisters. 

Diocese  of  Newark — Catholicity  in  New  Jerspy— Its  p-ogress — Appointme'::.  of  Et 
Eov.  James  R.  Bayley,  first  bishoj)— Seton  Hall. 

In  our  opening  ch'apter  on  the  Cluircli  in  the  State  we  dwelt 
at  some  length  on  the  eaily  Catholic  nusdions  among  the  Five 
Nations  of  Iroquois,  and  of  their  close  in  consequence  of  political 
schemes  and  intrigues. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  by  acknowlodgiug  the  author- 
ity of  England  over  the  Five  Iroquois  Nations,  had  forced  the 
missionaries  to  abandon  the  Iroquois  to  their  new  master. 
Nothing  but  a  war  could  again  open  to  religion  the  way  to  the 
cantons.  In  1*745  the  Abbe  Francis  Picquet  accompanied  his 
flock — tbe  radians  of  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountain.s — in  the 
expedition  against  Fort  Edward.  During  the  continuation  of 
hostilities  he  !•,  occasion  to  see  the  New  York  Iroquois,  and 
found  therad!^p'^  jd  .o  embrace  Camolicitv;  but  as  he  could  not 
'ven  think  of  attempting  a  mission  in  tl;e  Indian  towns  in  the 


.-•■HMJ 


Iti' 


462 


THE   CATHOLIC   CUU-UCH 


I'" 


interior  of  Now  York,  wliore  tho  Eiiglis^li  would  not  liavo  toler- 
ated his  presence,  the  Abbo  rii'':u'it  resolved  to  found  Ji  Reduc- 
tion near  the  embouchure  o.  !..,,"»  uturio  into  the  St.  Luwrenco, 
in  order  to  attrnct  to  that,  sf  ot  tlie  well  disposed  ainon^j  the  In- 
dians of  the  League.  Tfis  project  was  approved  by  the  Governor 
of  Canada,  and  in  the  month  of  May,  1748,  ho  set  out  to  choose 
a  site,  and  decided  on  a  beautiful  port  at  the  nioii+i<  of  the  Oswe- 
gatchie,  where  the  city  of  Ogdonsburg  iiosv  scands.  With  tho 
help  of  his  French  and  Indians,  the  missionary  erected  a  store- 
house and  palisade  fort,  to  whicli  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Pre- 
sentation, in  hu'  or  of  the  holiday  which  is  the  patronal  feast  of 
the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  to  which  he  belonged.  In  the 
month  of  (  ctober,  1*749,  a  war  party  of  Mohawks  set  fire  to  tho 
Presentation,  and  occasioned  the  Abbo  Picquct  a  loss  of  thirty 
thousand  livres.  Unrliscouraged,  however,  he  at  groat  expense 
repaired  the  loss,  and  having  begun  his  mission  with  six  Indian 
families,  he  had  the  consolation  of  counting,  in  1751,  four  hun- 
dred families,  comprising  three  thousand  souls,  and  composed 
almost  entirely  of  Onondagas  and  Cayugas. 

The  success  of  Mr.  Picquet  silenced  the  envy  and  jealousy  in 
Canada  which  at  first  had  ridiculed  his  projects,  and  people  be- 
gan to  realize  the  religious  and  strat^'gic  importance  of  this  post 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  province  of  New  York.  In  1752  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  Henry  Mr.ry  du  Breuil  dc  Pontbriaud,  visited 
the  Presentation  mission,  and  after  spending  several  days  in  in- 
structing the  neophytes,  baptized  one  hufidred  and  twenty,  and 
confirmed  many.  This  was  doubtless  the  first  episcopal  act  per- 
formed by  a  Catholic  bishop  within  tho  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  On  this  occasion  t  lo  ladies  of  Montreal 
embroidered  for  the  mission  a  beautiful  i  i  er,  fill  preserved  at 
the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains.  Tho  Abbe  I'lcquot  organized 
a  civil  g-overnment,  by  appointing  a  conned  of  twelve  chiefs,  who 
took  an  jatli  of  fidelity  to  France.     He  also  visited  the  interior 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


453 


:o  tolcr- 

Ileduc- 
iwrenco, 

the  Tn- 
lovei'uor 
)  choose 
le  Oswo- 
\  ith  the 

a  store - 
the  Pre- 

feast  of 

In  the 

re  to  tlio 

of  thirty 

expense 
,x  Indian 
our  hun- 
omposed 


of  the  cantons,  and  was  everywhere  well  received  by  the  Indians. 
They  had  in   vain   awaited  the  missionaries  promised  by  the 
English,  and  as  their  chiefs  declared  in  reply  to  the  reproaches 
of  the  English,  thuy  felt  the  necessity  of  Christianity,  and  were 
disposed  to  emigrate  in  a  body  to  the  St.  Lawrence  to  obtain  it. 
To  efiect  this,  Mr.  I'icquet  would  have  needed  other  priests  to 
aid  him,  skilful,  like  himself,  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  the 
Indians;  but  he  was  almost  alone,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
•whose  suppression  the  Catholic  sovereigns  of  Europe  were  de- 
manding, could  not  renew  their  eftbrts  of  the  previous  century. 
In  1753,  Mr.  Picquet  went  to  France,  leaving  his  mission  to  the 
Rev.  Peter  de  la  Garde,  a  Sulpitian,  and  the  following  year  he 
returned  to  the  Presentation  with  two  priests.     But  the  war 
which  was  to  end  in  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  already  enkin- 
dled, and  instead  of  peacefully  continuing  amid  his  beloved  In- 
dians the  labors  of  the  apostolatc,  he  had  to  accompany  numerous 
military  expeditions.     For  six  years  Mr.  Picquet  multiplied  his 
ondeavors  to  draw  the  cantons  to  the  cause  of  France,  cement 
alliances  or  encourage  the  warriors.     So  great  was  his  influence 
over  the  tribes  that  the  Marquis  du  Quesno,  Governor  of  Canada, 
said  that  ihe  Abbo  Picquet  was  worth  more  than  ten  regiments, 
and  in  battle  the  Indians  always  believed  him  in  their  midst, 
even  when  he  was  actually  hundreds  of  miles  off.     But  all  the 
efforts  of  Canada  could  not  prevent  the  progress  of  the  I'nglish, 
whose  armies  invaded  that  colony  on  all  sides,  while  it  wa>'.  ac- 
tually abandoned  without  resources  by  the  mother  couiitiy.     In 
1759  the  Rev.  Mr.  Picquet  had  been  forced  to  retire  from  the 
Presentation  and  settle  witli  his  Indians  on  Grande    He    aux 
Galops,  in  the  midst  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  be  less  exposed  to 
*he  English.     There  he  built  a  chapel,  and  on  the  2d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1759,  was  invited  to  bless  Fort  Levis,  which  the  French 
were  erecting  on  another  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence.     On  the 
25tb  of  August,  1760,  this  fort  waa  forced  to  surrender  to  the 


464 


THE  CATHOLIC   OHUllCn 


^1 


Englisli  nftcr  n  virjorous  flofciiico,  diroctod  by  Captain  Ptiucliot, 
and  during  tho  whole  sicgo  tlio  Ahbo  do  lu  (iardt!  ivmaincd  on 
tho  island  to  take  cixra  of  tho  wounded.*  In  tho  month  of  May, 
in  tlu!  same  year,  tho  Uov.  Mr.  I'ioquot  bade  adieu  to  his  mission, 
in  conformity  with  tho  advice  of  the  governor,  to  avoid  falling 
into  tho  hands  of  th<!  English,  and  ho  descended  to  Louisiana  by 
tho  lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  JIo  spent  nearly  two  years  at  New 
Orleans,  where  his  preaching  produced  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 
at  last  seeing  that  Fra?ice  sacrificed  all  lier  American  possessions, 
ho  returned  to  his  native  country,  which  his  zeal  had  so  faithfully 
served  abroad  for  thiity  years.f 

On  the  peace,  the  Rev.  Mr.  do  la  Garde  obtained  permission  to 
resume  the  care  of  tho  mission  of  the  Presentation,  but  the 
English  garrison  at  tlie  fort  ere  long  demoralized  the  natives ; 
and  after  a  few  years  the  more  rtjligious  dispersed,  seeking,  after 
many  vicissitudes,  a  refuge  at  Canadasaga,  Caughnawaga,  or 
St.  Francis  Regis.  This  last-named  village,  situated  on  tho  St. 
Lawrence,  northeast  of  the  Presentation,  is  now  divided  by  the 
boundary  between  New  York  and  Canada,  .and  is  thus  partly  in 
the  diocese  of  7k.lbany.     It  was  founded  about  1700  by  the  Jesuit 

*  John  Potor  Bespon  do  la  Giirdo,  born  in  France  ftbont  1728,  remained  in 
Canada  after  tiio  conquest,  and  died  on  tlic  lOtli  of  April,  1792,  Cure  of  St. 
Genevieve. 

+  Lettres  Edifiuites  ct  Curieusea.  Mumoiro  snr  la  vie  de  M.  Picqnet,  niis- 
fiionnaire  au  Canada  par  M.  la  Lande  de  rAcaddtnie  dea  Sciences.  Shea's 
History  of  the  Catholic  Missions,  pp.  ;'>;]4-!310.  Manuscripts  of  the  Hon.  I. 
Vigor,  Com.  St.  Grcj?.  Francis  Picquct,  born  at  Eourg  en  Bressc,  on  tho 
6th  of  December,  1708,  entered  tho  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpicc  at  an  early 
age.  In  1733  he  solicited  and  obtained  permission  to  go  to  Canada,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  Iroquois  missions  with  equal  zeal  and  success.  When 
in  1753  he  came  to  France  to  interest  the  government  in  his  mission,  his 
family  wished  to  detain  him  at  Bresse,  and,  on  his  rcfusiJ,  disinherited  him. 
On  his  return  to  Paris  in  17G2,  he  received  testimonials  of  esteem  from  tho 
Clergy  of  France  and  from  the  Sovereign  Pontilf,  and  died  at  Verjon  on  the 
15th  of  July,  1781.  The  astronomer.  La  Lande,  his  coiuitryman,  who  wrote 
the  memoir  cited  above,  was  an  infidel  of  the  worst  stamp,  and  was  one  of 
the  authors  of  tho  Dictionnaire  des  Athees. 


f 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


455 


Fftther  Mary  Anthony  Cordon,  with  some  Iroquois  faniilica  sent 
tVoui  CuughniuvagH,  and  in  1800  it  received  the  refugees  from 
the  Presentation.  Father  Gordon  resided  at  St.  llegis  till  his 
death  in  1777.  After  that,  in  consequenee  of  the  war  and  its 
troubles,  the  Iroquois  had  no  peruument  pastor  till  1705,  when 
the  Rev.  Uoderic  McDonnell,  a  zealous  Scotch  priest,  directed 
them  till  his  death  in  1800.  To  him  succeeded  the  Rev.  John 
B.  Roupe,  a  Sulpitian  of  Montreal,  who,  becoming  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  Americans  during  the  war  of  1812,  was  taken 
prisoner  by  their  troops,  in  an  attack  on  his  village.  His  succes- 
sor, the  Rev.  Joseph  Marcoux,  was  so  favorable  to  the  Americans 
as  to  be  termed  by  his  flock,  Ratsihenstatsi  Wastonronon,  the 
American  priest.*  lie  was  subsequently  for  many  years  at 
Caughnawaga,  where  he  died  on  the  29th  of  May,  1856,  re- 
nowned as  a  philologist  and  a  devoted  missionary.  His  cate- 
chisms and  prayer-books  are  used,  by  the  direction  of  the  bishop, 
in  all  the  Catholic  Iroquois  missions,  and  his  dictionaries  and 
grammars  will  ever  remain  a  monument  to  liis  learning  and  a 
treasure  to  the  missionaries.! 

Since  1832  the  Rev.  Francis  Marcoux  has  been  pastor  at  St. 
Regis,  and  although  part  of  the  village  is,  as  we  have  said,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  Bishop  of  Albany  leaves  the  whole  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  who  sends  Canadian 
missionaries  there.  St.  Regis  contains  a  population  of  eleven 
hundred  souls,  governed  on  the  Canadian  side  by  chiefs,  on  the 
American  side  by  trustees ;  and  they  form  the  only  remnant  of 
Catholic  Iroquois  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  their  fore- 
fathers of  the  Five  Nations  v/ere  once  so  powerful.  The  unfortu- 
nate territorial  division  of  their  village  between  the  English  and 
Americans  is  still,  for  the  Indians,  a  source  of  trouble  and  intes- 


*  The  Conadians  term  all  Americans  Bostonais,  and  the  Indians  adopt  the 
term, 
t  See  skotch  of  his  life  and  labors  in  the  Mstropolitan,  iii.  539. 


'•""Will  I, _^M^at_.^.^ 


[  I'i  f  • 


i 


I'I' 


i 


J 


i;    ;!i 


I  ^i 


456 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


tine  diflSculty.  The  Protestant  sects,  taking  advantage  of  such  a 
situation,  have  made  great  efforts  and  greater  outlays  to  pervert 
the  tribe,  and  imagined  that  they  had  succeeded  when  they  ob- 
tained, as  an  instrument  of  proselytism,  a  son  of  the  tribe,  whom 
they  have  made  an  Episcopal  clergyman.  The  Rev.  Eleazar 
"Williams,  not  content  with  playing  this  part,  wished  to  ape  a 
still  higher  one ;  and  since  1852  nothing  will  satisfy  his  vauity 
but  to  be  the  dauphin  of  France — Louis  XVIL,  son  of  the  victim 
of  the  French  Revolution.  Some  Protestant  clergyman,  it  would 
seem,  must  always  endorse  an  imposture  in  America,  whether  it 
be  Maria  Monk  or  Eleazar  Williams,  and  in  consequence,  the 
Rev.  John  H.  Hanson,  and  even  the  Rev,  F.  L.  Hawks,  lent  the 
pretender  the  aid  of  their  influence  and  personal  consideration. 
To  maintain  his  thesis,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hanson  published  a  volume 
of  five  hundred  pages,  besides  several  articles  in  a  periodical  ;* 
and  it  is  not  easv  to  conceive  how  a  man  of  sense  can  talk  so 
much  of  good  faith  in  a  work  where  he  tortures  historic  truth  at 
every  line.f 

After  having  frequently  sought  to  fathom  the  motives  which 


*  The  Lost  Prince  ;  facts  tending  to  prove  the  identity  of  Louis  XVIL  of 
France  and  the  Eev.  Eleazar  Williams.  By  John  H.  Hanson.  New  York, 
1854.     Putnam's  Monthly,  February  and  April,  1853,  and  February,  1854. 

+  At  the  first  attempt  to  impose  this  gross  fable  on  the  public,  the  present 
writer  refuted  it  step  by  step  in  the  New  York  papers.  This  opposition  did 
not  please  the  partisans  of  the  Lost  Prince,  for  Mr.  Hanson  had  gained  hia 
hero  many  very  sincere  and  enthusiastic  friends.  The  author  of  the  book 
himself  came  to  see  us,  to  convert  us  to  his  ideas,  and  failing,  represented 
us  as  an  agent  of  the  Bishops  in  Canada,  the  emissary  of  all  the  Bourbons, 
paid  by  the  Catholics  and  royalists  to  discredit  the  American  Louis  XVII, 
Yet  we  produced  the  sworn  statement  of  Mary  Ann  Williams,  Eleazar's  mo- 
ther, who  in  1853  still  survived  at  St.  Eegis,  though  more  than  eighty  years 
of  age,  and  who  solemnly  attested  that  Eleazar  was  her  son.  We  also  pub- 
lished certificates  of  the  principal  Iroquois  chiefs  at  Caughnawaga,  affirming 
that  Eleazar  was  born  in  their  villf^^e,  and  we  believe  that  we  did  something 
to  prevent  the  imposture  from  spreading.  He  still  preserves  his  partisans, 
and  the  Church  to  which  he  belongs  is  not  ashamed  to  credit  this  fantastic 
pretension  of  one  of  its  clergymen. 


>f  such  a 
0  pervert 
they  ob- 
»e,  whom 
.  Eleazar 
to  ape  a 
lis  vauity 
he  victim 
,  it  would 
hether  it 
lence,  the 
,  lent  the 
sideration. 
a  volume 
ricdical  ;* 
in  talk  so 
Q  truth  at 

ves  which 


is  XVII.  of 
[New  York, 
Iry,  1854. 
Itlie  present 
position  did 
gained  his 
If  the  book 
represented 
Bourbons, 
)ui3  XVII. 
2azar's  mo- 
Jghty  years 
also  pub- 
L,  affirming 
I  something 
partisans, 
ts  fantastic 


IN  THE   UNITED   STiTES. 


457 


induced  Mr.  Hanson  and  his  colleagues  to  accredit  this  fable,  we 
find  only  one  plausible  explanation.  The  first  article  in  the  pe- 
riodical, "  Have  we  a  Bourbon  among  us  ?"  was  thrown  before 
the  public  at  a  moment  when  the  Episcopalians  of  America  were 
filled  with  vexation  and  shame  at  the  striking  conversion  of  one 
of  their  bishops,  Dr.  Levi  S.  Ives.  It  was  necessary  to  divert 
attention  from  a  fact  so  fitted  to  inspire  reflections  and  seek  the 
truth  sincerely.  Curiosity  was  to  be  stimulated  by  leaving  a 
considerable  interval  between  the  articles,  and  Episcopalian  vanity 
to  be  flattered,  by  persuading  them  that  if  they  had  lost  a  bishop 
they  had  gained  a  king.  In  fact,  they  succeeded  for  several 
months  in  engaging  the  popular  attention  with  the  imaginary 
adventures  of  the  Dauphin  of  France ;  but  it  would  seem  that 
the  instigators  of  the  movement  having  used  their  instrument, 
have  cast  it  aside,  leaving  Mr.  Williams  to  turn  to  account,  as 
best  he  may,  his  royal  origin.* 

Independently  of  the  miss'onaries  whom  France  sent  into  the 
interior  of  New  York  to  evangelize  the  Indians,  other  priests  took 
up  their  residence  in  the  fortified  posts  where  the  French  had 
garrisons,  and  the  efforts  of  the  governors  of  New  York  failed  for 
eighty  years  before  the  perseverance  of  their  Canadian  neighbors. 
In  vain  did  they  endeavor  to  drive  the  French  beyond  the  St. 


*  The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  New  York  pupcra,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1854,  and  is  a  sample  of  those  used  to  draw  a  crowd  around  his  pulpit. 
•'The  Rev.  Eleazar  Williams,  said  to  be  the  long-lost  Dauphin  of  France, 
will  preach  an  interesting  sermon  to-morrow  evening  at  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Brooklyn,  and  a  collection  will  be  taken  up  to  build  a  church  for  the  St.  Re- 
gis Indians,  of  whom  ho  is  the  spiritual  pastor.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  ia 
67  years  old,  and  claims  to  be  the  identical  Louis  XVII.  of  France.  This 
cannot  fail  to  make  his  sermon  interesting  to  the  people  of  Brooklyn."  This 
pious  call  is  a  series  of  voluntary  errors.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  is  not  pas- 
tor of  the  St.  Regis  Indians,  who  despise  him,  and  have  repeatedly  driven 
from  their  village  a  man  who  seeks  to  lead  them  into  apostasy.  Repulsed 
by  the  Canadian  government,  which  told  him  that  the  St.  Regis  Indians  had 
a  Catholic  pastor,  Mr.  Williams  collects  funds  in  the  United  States  to  seduce 
his  ooivutrymen. 

20 


458 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Lawrence ;    they  succeeded  only  when  the  white  fljig  of  the 
Bourbons  disappeared  in  Canada. 

In  1732  the  French  reared  a  fort,  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  St.  Frederic,  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Champlain, 
in  order  to  cover  Montreal  from  the  attack*  of  the  Englisli.  This 
point  bore  the  name  of  Pointe  a  la  Chevulure,  which  the  English 
translated  Crown  Point.  The  Swedish  naturahst,  Kalm,  tells  us 
that  Fort  St.  Frederic  was  so  named  in  honor  of  M.  de  Maurepas, 
and  that  there  was  within  the  fort  a  well-built  church,  where  the 
soldiers  assembled  morning  and  evening  for  prayer.  " The  French," 
he  adds,  "  give  much  more  time  in  their  colonies  to  prayer  and 
outward  worship  than  the  English  and  Dutch  settlers  in  the 
English  colonies."*  He  remarks,  too,  that  in  the  craft  in  which 
he  ascended  the  Hudson  the  hands  performed  no  devotions,  while 
in  the  French  sloop  that  took  him  down  Lake  Champlain  he  was 
edified  by  the  religious  conduct  of  the  crew,  especially  on  Sun- 
day.f 

Of  this  fort  the  names  of  the  chaplains  have  fortunately  come 
down  to  us,  and  among  them  is  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel,  fa- 
mous for  the  interesting  narrative  of  his  shipwreck,  whom  we 
shall  also  find  at  Niagara.^ 

*  Kalm,  Travels  in  North  America.  Translate^'  from  the  Swedish,  hy  J. 
K.  Forster:  Warrington,  1770;  iii.  148.  The  travels  of  tliis  learned  natu- 
ralist are  very  interesting,  especially  as  regards  Canada.  He  speaks  well  of 
religion,  and  describes  judiciously  the  churches,  convents,  and  other  esrtab- 
liahments  at  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Ho  was  much  pleased  with  the  Jesuits, 
with  whom  ho  frequently  dined,  and  among  whom  ho  found,  as  he  avows, 
scientific  men  fully  equal  to  himself.  On  his  return  to  Sweden  he  was  niado 
a  Lutheran  bishop, 
t  Kalm,  iii.  44. 

X  The  names  of  the  chaplains  at  Fort  St.  Frederic,  or  Beauharnais,  as 
drawn  by  the  learned  Mr.  Jacques  Viger,  of  Montreal,  from  the  register  still 
pieserved  in  the  prothonotary'a  olfice,  are — 

John  Baptist  Laj us,     1732-33.        Alexis  du  Buron,  1743-4G. 

Peter  Baptist  Reache,  1738-84.        Bonaventure  Ca-pentior,  1747. 
Benardine  de  Gaunes,  1784-3i.        Hypolite  Collet,  1747-54. 

Emmanuel  Crespel,     1735-8G.        j)idacus  Cliche,  1754-58. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


459 


r  of  the 

> 

rave  the 
araplain, 
sh.    This 
}  English 
I,  tells  us 
vlaurepas, 
rt'here  the 
3  French," 
rayer  and 
;rs  in  the 
:  in  which 
ions,  while 
aiu  he  was 
y  on  Sun- 

itely  come 
Irespel,  fa- 
Iwhom  we 


edish,  by  J. 
lamed  natu- 
^aks  well  of 

other  estab- 

|the  Jesuits, 
ho  avows, 

|e  was  nuido 


Iharnuia,  as 
jegister  still 

t'43-4G. 
r47. 
r47-54. 
54-58. 


In  I'Zoo  the  French  built  a  fort  still  farther  towards  the  capital 
of  New  York,  at  Carillon,  now  Ticondcroga,  and  here  in  1757 
they  repulsed  the  army  of  General  Abercromhie.  This  was, 
however,  the  last  effort  of  their  power,  and  on  the  26th  of  July, 
1769,  Bourlamarque  had  to  evacuate  Ticondcroga  and  fall  back 
on  Canada.  Some  weeks  after  Montcalm  was  killed,  and  Quebec 
surrendered  to  England.  The  conquest  of  Canada  was  a  momen- 
tary triumph  for  Protestantism,  and  the  missionaries  disappear  cd 
from  the  State  of  New  York. 

When  the  American  army  under  Montgomery  entered  Canada, 
a  number  of  the  French  settlers  joined  their  standard,  and  were 
enrolled  in  Lieber's  and  Oliver's  companies,  as  we  have  stated 
when  speaking  of  the  political  mission  of  Father  Carroll.  Among 
the  young  men  of  Chambly,  Assumption,  and  Machiche  the 
Americans  also  found  some  sympathizers,  especially  in  the  Aca- 
dians.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  the  deep-seated  hatred  of  the 
English  government  which  they  nurtured  in  their  hearts.  Soine 
had  been  treacherously  banished  from  Acadia  in  1755,  and  after 
an  exile  of  greater  or  less  duration,  had  joined  the  Canadians, 
fellow-countrymen  in  their  eyes ;  others  had  fled  to  Canada  wher 
the  English  began  the  work  of  pillage  and  devastatioTi  in  Acadia. 
All  nourished  an  inveterate  luitred  against  their  oppressors,  and 
seconded  the  Americans  in  their  enterprise  to  wrest  the  St.  Law- 
rence from  Great  Britain.  On  the  evacuation  of  Canada  in  1776 
those  most  compromised  followed  the  retreating  army,  and  re- 
mained till  the  close  of  the  war  incorporated  in  various  regimenta 
of  the  American  army.  Their  families  in  many  cases  were  also 
compelled  to  follow.     A  letter  of  General  Schuyler's,  dated  Au- 


Peter  Verquaillie, 
Daniel, 


1736-41.        Anthony  Deperet, 
1741-43.        Felix  de  Bercy, 


1738-59. 

1700. 


The  last  entry  in  the  reeistcr,  a  baptism,  is  dated  Jan'y  12,  1760,  but  F.  do 
Bcrey  could  not  have  pertbruied  it  at  Crown  Point,  which  the  French  hud 
left  in  the  summer  of  1759. 


i 

I' t 


m 


d 


I       ! 


400 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUIICH 


gust  18,  1776,  contains  a  pressing  recommendation  in  favor  of 
the  Canadians  of  Livingston's,  Ilazen's,  and  Duggan's  corps,  then 
at  Albany,  representing  them  as  in  tho  greatest  destitution  and 
nakedness.  The  general  adds  that  many  Canadian  refugees  not 
in  the  army  wore  in  the  same  state.*  The  latter  were  even  more 
miserable,  isolated  in  a  foreign  country,  whose  language  they 
knew  not,  and  whose  religion  they  did  not  sharo.  The  Slate  of 
jNiew  York  at  last  took  pity  on  part  of  these  unfoituuaie  people, 
ar  1  in  1789  and  1790  granted  lands  northwest  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Canadian  and  Acadian 
reiugees.  These  lands  are  situated  in  the  present  county  of 
Clinton,  and  the  villages  of  Chazy  and  Corbeau  are  inhabited  in 
part  by  the  descendants  of  these  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 
Others  of  the  Cana^Mans  settled  at  Fishkill,  where  we  have  seen 
the  apostolic  Father  Farmer  laboring  among  them ;  others  at 
jN^ew  York,  and  more  at  Split  Rock  Bay,  on  Lake  Champlain. 

Both  those  at  New  York  and  those  at  Split  Rock  were  for  a 
time  attended  by  a  clergyman  whose  sufferings  and  eccentric  life 
require  some  details.  Peter  Huet  de  la  Valiniere,  born  at 
Nantes,  in  Buttany,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1732,  was  received, 
into  the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  came  to  Montreal  a 
sub-deacon  in  1755.  He  was  ordained  priest  at  Quebec  in  1757, 
and  was  one  of  the  twenty-eight  Sulpitians  who  submitted  to  be- 
come English  subjects  when  twelve  of  theii'  brethren  returned  to 
France.  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  does  not,  however,  seem  to  have 
succeeded  in  conceiving  a  very  lively  affection  for  the  new  mas- 
ters of  Canada,  and  in  1776,  while  pastor  at  the  Assvjnption,  fell 
under  the  suspicion  of  government  for  his  political  conduct  and 


*  Aniericaa  Archives,  Series  V.  vol.  i.  1031.  Tlie  same  collection,  S.  IV. 
vi.  1)'2;5,  mentions  a  captain's  commission  given  by  Sullivan  to  Francis  Guillot, 
of  Kiviere  du  Loup ;  and  in  V.  1.  798,  names  tlio  Canadians,  Loseau,  AI- 
ler,  Basade,  and  Mcnarcce  (Menard),  as  officers  iii  Col.  James  Livingston's 
regiment.  Colonel  Fremont,  the  explorer,  is  the  adi  of  a  Canadian  who  em- 
igrated to  the  United  States  in  1790. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


4G1 


his  sympathy  for  the  army  of  the  United  States  then  in  the 
colony.*  Even  before  receiving  the  complaints  of  the  governoi', 
the  bishop  had  several  times  removed  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  from 
one  point  to  another  away  from  the  frontiers,  but  as  that  clergy- 
man still  expressed  his  opinions  freely,  Sir  Francis  Haideman 
seized  him  in  lYSO,  and  sent  him  in  a  frigate  to  England.  After 
remaining  eighteen  months  in  a  prison-ship  he  was  set  at  liberty, 
and  reached  J3rittany  towards  the  close  of  1781.  Soon  dissatis- 
fied with  his  family,  and  meeting,  in  consequence  of  his  eccen- 
tricity, a  rather  cool  reception  from  the  Sulpitiaus  at  Paris,  he 
resolved  to  return  to  Canada,  and  set  sail  for  Mar\inique.  From 
this  point  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiuiere  proceeded  to  St.  Domingo, 
and  had  scarcely  recovered  from  an  attack  of  the  yellow  fever 
when  he  took  passage  in  a  small  craft  for  Newburyport.  From 
this  Massachusetts  port  he  travelled  on  foot  to  Montreal,  Avhere 
he  arrived  in  the  early  part  of  June,  1785.  He  remained  till 
August ;  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Montgolfier,  the  Superior  of  St.  Sul- 
pice,  wished  him  to  leave  the  country,  and  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
gave  him  very  favorable  letters  for  the  United  States.  Again  he 
set  out  on  foot  for  Baltimore,  and  having  been  received  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  asked  Father  Farmer  to  be  allowed  to  reside  at 
New  York  and  exercise  tiie  ministry  for  the  Canadians  and 
French.     On  transmitting  this  request  to  Father  Carroll,  on  the 

*  On  the  12th  of  August,  1776,  M.  de  Monfgolfier,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpioe, 
wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  :  "  As  to  tlie  clertry,  they  renmin  in  the  best 
disposition  with  regard  to  submission  to  Lawful  authority I  luive  hith- 
erto observed  silence  as  to  tlio  tlireo  missionaries  of  Sault  St.  JiOui.-,  Li.m- 
gucuil,  anf'  Assumption  (M.  de  hi  Valiniere),  tlie  most  culpable  and  least  re- 
covered of  all.  I  should  like  him  got  out  of  the  country;  he  is  very  volatile, 
and,  though  of  correct  life,  will  undoubtedly  give  us  some  trouble."  Ar- 
chives of  the  See  of  Quebec. 

The  missionary  at  Siiult  St.  Louis  -was  Father  Joseph  ITuguet,  S.  J.,  who 
was  stationed  thevc  from  1757,  till  his  de;.i!i,  May  6,  178!3.  The  government 
either  would  not  or  durst  not  remove  him.  The  Cure  of  Longueuil,  from 
1763  to  Oct.  1,  1777,  was  the  llav.  Claude  Carpentier,  a  secular  priest.  IIo 
wub  removed,  in  1777,  to  Vercheros,  where  ho  died  in  1708. 


\">    k 


H' 


W 


!  'i 


);'  •: 


462 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


27th  of  December,  1785,  Fatlier  Farmer  adds :  "I  have  no  doubt 
Mr.  de  la  Valiniere's  stay  among  these  poor  people,  and  his  dis- 
courses to  them,  will  revive  their  past  devotion.  My  answer  to 
him  was,  that  till  your  pleasure  be  known,  he  might  exercise  at 
New  Yoi'k,  with  respect  to  the  Canadians  and  French  only,  those 
faculties  which  your  reverence  had  given  him.  To  this  answer  I 
was  moved  by  the  extreme  spiritual  necessity  of  these  poor  peo- 
ple. Another  motive  was  mentioned  by  himself,  and  it  is  that 
foinieriy,  in  Canada,  he  had  been  the  ordinary  pastor  of  those 
vohnitary  exiles ;  and  may  we  not  add  to  these  motives  that  he 
Y/or  our  fellow-missionary  in  America,  and  that  he  comes  with 
approbation  from  a  neighboring  bishopric  ?"* 

When  the  revolted  'rustees  drove  Father  Whelan  from  New 
Yor"  ,  February,  1736,  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  received  j'owers  as 
parish  priest,  without  restriction  to  the  French  and  Canadians. 
But  the  incessant  troubles  of  the  consfreijation  induced  him  to 
abridge  his  stay ;  and  besides,  the  worthy  priest  had  too  restless 
a  mind  to  dwell  long  in  one  spot.  Accordingly,  towards  April, 
he  journeyed  off  to  Philadelphia,  then  made  his  way  as  a  pedes- 
trian to  Pittsburg,  and  descending  the  Ohio  in  a  battean — not 
without  frequent  pursuits  from  the  Indians — he  went  and  offered 
himself  as  pastor  to  the  French  in  Illinois.  But  they  did  not 
accept  his  services ;  and  after  three  years'  strife,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  in  connection  with  that  part,  he  descended  to  New 
Orleans  by  the  Wabash  and  Ohio.  There,  after  narrowly  es- 
caping death  from  a  serious  disorder,  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiniere 
took  passage  on  a  vessel  for  Havana ;  thence  visited  successively 
Florida,  Charleston,  Stonington,  and  New  York,  and  in  the 
month  of  October,  1790,  he  greatly  astonished  his  old  associates 
of  St.  Sulpice  by  asking  hospitality  from  them  at  Montreal.  lie 
was  charitably  received ;  but  he  was  entreated  to  make  his  stay 

*  Campbell,  iu  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  146. 


\o  doubt 
[  his  dis- 
iswer  to 
jrcise  at 
ly,  those 
answer  I 
)oor  peo- 
t  is  that 
of  those 
i  that  he 
mes  with 

om  New 
owers  as 
anadians. 
d  him  to 
o  restless 
■ds  April, 
a  pedes- 
an — not 
d  offered 
did  not 
ivhich  wo 
to  New 
jowly  es- 
Adiniere 
[Cessivcly 
1  in  the 
ssociates 
al.     Ilo 
his  stay 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


463 


as  short  as  possible,  as  they  did  not  wisn  to  compromise  them- 
felves  with  the  English  government.  Before  the  close  of  the 
month  he  left  Montreal,  to  take  up  his  abode  on  the  banks  of 
Lake  Champlain,  near  Split  Rock  Bay,  where,  as  we  have  seen, 
some  of  the  Canadian  refugees  had  settled.  Here  Mr.  de  la 
Valiniere  built  a  chapel  and  house  for  himself,  and  of  his  own 
authority,  and,  without  jurisdiction,  formed  a  parish.  After 
three  years'  stay,  he  set  his  parishioners  so  much  against  him, 
that,  to  get  rid  of  their  pastor,  they  set  fire  to  his  church  and 
house.  He  then  returned  to  Canada,  where  the  Seminary  of 
Montreal  gave  him  an  annual  pension  of  twenty-five  pounds,  on 
condition  that  lie  would  remain  quietly  in  the  parish  of  St.  Sul- 
pice.  He  lived  till  1806,  preserving  to  the  close  his  restless 
chr.racter  and  singular  devotions,  combined  with  an  exemplary 
r.asterity  of  life.  He  was  killed  at  Repentlgny,  by  a  fall  from  a 
wagon,  on  the  29th  of  June,  180G.* 

Poetry,  as  he  understood  it,  was  his  great  consolation  in  his 
troubles;  and  in  1*792,  while  residing  on  the  banks  of  Lake 
Champlain,  he  printed  at  Albany  a  poem  of  1644,  recounting 
his  adventures.  The  preface  is  to  the  air  of  the  Enfant  Prodigue, 
and  the  twelve  chapters  that  follow  are  to  the  tune  of  the  air 
Folks  d"* Espagne.  This  original  character  deserves  to  be  bet- 
ter known  in  America,  for  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  sympa- 
thy in  the  United  States,  that  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiniere  was  sub- 
jected to  numberless  trials  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his 
life.f 

In  consequence  of  the  troubles  of  1838,  a  still  greater  Cana- 
dian emigration  to  Now  York  and  Vermont  took  place ;  and 
besides  these  political  causes,  there  is  periodically  the  seducing 

*  Biograpliie  de  M.  dc  ia  Valiniere,  by  the  Very  Kev.  F.  X.  Noiseux,  for- 
merly Viear-general  of  Quebec.  This  sketch  we  had  to  rectify  ut  almost 
every  line,  by  documents  from  the  archives  of  the  See  of  Quebec. 

t  The  title  of  the  poein  ii»,  "  Vralc  histoire  ou  simple  precis  des  infor- 
tuues,  pour  ne  pas  dire  des  perbecutious  qu'a  souifert  et  soulTre  encore  le 


4G4 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


.      ,        ; 


ij 


reason  of  a  liiglier  price  of  labor  to  induce  tlie  people  of  Canada 
to  cross  the  frontier.     The  faith  of  these  poor  pfople,  and  es' 
pecially   that    of   their  cliildrcn,  runs  great  danger  amid   the 
Protestant  and  freethinking  population  of  the  United   States ; 
hence  we  cannot  be  sui'prised  to  find  the  Canadian  clergy  disap- 
prove, in  general,  this  emigration  of  ("Catholics,  leaving  their  vil- 
lage churches  to  wander  at  hazard  in  seaich  of  niaterial  goods, 
and  setting  the  wants  of  the  bodv  above  the  essential  interests 
of  their  souls.     The  parish  of  Corbeau,  inhabited  chiefly  by  easy 
Canadian  farmers,  has  had  for  the  last  twenty  years  a  church,  and 
I)astor  who  speaks  French.     The  Canadian  population  is  about 
four  thousand  souls.     But  in  other  localities  the  landholders 
are  the  exception  ;    and  the  general   condition  of  the  French 
Canadians  in  the  State  of  New  York  is  that  of  farm-hands,  or 
laborers  in  the  forges  and  furnaces  which  dot  the  little  rivers  in 
the  north  of  the  State.     For  the  last  two  years  a  French  priest 
lias  resided  at  Keeseville  ;  he  counts  three  thousand  Canadian 
Catholics  in  his  parish,  and  sfirves  also  Elizabeth  and  Westport, 
where  he  assembles  at  the  altar  three  hundred  of  the  faithful 
scattered  in  the  neighborhood.     At  Plattsburg  the  Oblates  have 
undertaken  to  build  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  the  census  made  by 
Father  Bernard  in  1853  gives  a  total  for  his  parish  of  six  hun- 
dred Canadian  families,  or  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty 


Eev.  Pierre  Huet  de  hi  Vnliuiere,  mis  cnvers  par  lui-in6mc  en  Juillct,  1702 
A  Albany,  imprime  aux  depens  de  Taiiteur." 

Tlie  reader  will  see  that  the  versifier  must  have  borne  the  expense  of  tlio 
publication,  when  he  reads  such  couplets  as — 

"LallavRne,  la  Florido  Espagnoli?, 
Cliarlestown,  et  Stonin^tton,  et  New  York, 
N'ont  ripn  pour  iiioi  qui  me  paraisse  drole. 
Je  pri'fore  du  Canada  le  pore." 

In  1823,  the  house  which  he  occupied  at  St.  Snlpico  ha%'in<z  become  tlio 
Hotel  Robillard,  our  friend  Mr.  Jacques  Viger  stoppings  there  one  night, 
found  the  woodwo'k  all  covered  with  little  rnediillions,  in  which  the  ag'cd 
priest  had  written  verses  exhaling  his  griefs. 


ki^*>       i 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


465 


souls.  One  of  the  Oblfi'  ?atliers  also  serves  Rochvo  n1,  where  ho 
numbers  four  hundred  d'tl  olio  fainilies.  In  the  eity  of  Troy, 
one  of  the  chu'  ;hes  is  reserved  for  the  Canadians.  At  Capo 
Vineent,  on  Lake  Ontario,  there  is  a  parish  made  up  chietly  of 
the  descendants  of  French  colonists,  sent  thither  by  Mr.  Leray 
de  Chaurnont,  who  had  considerable  pr'M^t'rt''  there.* 

We  have  seen  that  the  clergy  of  France  and  Canada  have  gone 
in  search  of  those  emigrants  wlio  have  abandoned  the  neighbor- 
hood of  their  parish  churches,  not  kn  .ring  where  they  shouM 
lind  a  priest  to  near  the  confession  of  thei  faults  and  to  instruct 
their  childi  ;>  St'll,  many  churches  and  missionaries  are  needed 
to  preserve  these  poor  people  from  losing  the  faith ;  and  most 
frequently  they  have  not  means  to  raise  a  chapel  and  support  a 
priest.  Not  veiy  cordially  viewed  by  the  Catholics  of  other  ori- 
gins, the  Canadians  retire  and  isolate  themselves ;  and  while  a 
priest  who  preaches  in  their  language,  aiid  specially  inteicsts 
himself  in  them,  obtains  the  happiest  results,  the  Irish  or  Amer- 
ican priest  does  not  inspire  a  confidence  ^^hich  he  does  not 
seek. 

We  need  not  wonder,  then,  if  the  faith  n  .  lost  some  of  its 
children  among  the  descendants  of  the  Cauadinii  ^migrants,  when 
they  are  deprived  of  all  religious  succor.  J^ut  the  missionary 
who  settles  amid  these  families  easily  awakens  Catholic  senti- 
ments, unless  they  have  lost  the  French  language.  Uutbitu- 
uately,  sensible  losses  to  the  Church  result  f'om  the  necessity  in 
which  widows  with  families  ai'e  of  placing  their  children  in 
American  houses,  where,  with  English,  they  learn  all  the  preju- 
dices of  Protestantism  or  infidelity.     Mixed  marriages  are  another 


*  Bishop  Dubois  wrote  on  this  subject  from  Eome,  on  the  16t,h  of  March, 
]830,  "  I  should  never  cease,  were  I  to  speak  of  all  the  hamlets  that  I  find 
abandoned  along  the  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence.  Half  the  p(  pulution  of 
these  villages  are  French  from  Canada,  who  liave  come  and  settled  on  the 
American  side."     Annates  de  la  Propagation  dc  Ir  F'  i,  iv.  450. 

20* 


■    (, 


'il 


466 


THE   r\TIIOLIC   CIirKCH 


/I. 


:  ,!^ 


H» 


if    ' 


80111  oe  of  {vpostfisv,  osncci'fiUy  where  the  wife  is  ;i  Protestant.  'i)><\ 
Ainorioan  woin.ii,  hiiving  inoro  sii[t(.'rficinl  ednciitioii  than  the 
simpli;  C/aiiadians.  r>uft'('d  up  with  tlieir  little  leariiiiit,',  hikI  faiiati- 
cised  by  ihcir  books  aii<l  ministers,  are  untiring  in  thiir  ell'orts  to 
shake  the  faitli  of  their  husbands,  and  gain  ihein  to  their  conve- 
nient and  not  troublesome  creed.  Finally,  the  public  schools  are 
u  ijreat  danger;  and  the  habitual  contact  of  Catliolic  and  Trot- 
ostant  children  cannot  but  be  injurious  to  the  former. 

We  have  dwelt  on  the  religious  wants  of  the  C/anadian  popu- 
lation of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  order  to  attract  the  attention 
of  France  to  them,  and  preserve  tlieni  from  heresy.  We  have 
said  it :  these  emigrants  are  poor,  and  the  most  they  can  by  any 
eiTort  do,  is  to  rear  a  church  and  give  the  priest  a  scanty  support. 
Every  village  should,  moreover,  liavc  its  French  Catholic  school, 
confided  to  religious  congregations,  and  Canada  will  joyfully 
furnish  colonies  of  its  educational  Sisterhoods  to  preserve  the 
faith  of  its  children.  Tlie  admirable  Association  for  the  Pi'0})a.- 
gation  of  the  Faith  ffiv<>s  much  to  the  difiVrent  dioceses  in  tho 
United  States.  W-  .■re  confident  that  it  will  take  an  interest  in 
founding  French  schools  among  the  descendants  of  the  Freucli, 
where  language  is  a  safeguard  to  religion.  V\'e  cannot  too 
strongly  recommend  this  Canadian  population  to  the  solicitude 
of  the  two  Councils  of  Paris  and  Lyons,  and  we  express  oui 
earnest  wisli  that  special  grants  of  theirs  w  ill  enable  the  Cana- 
dians to  finish  their  churches  at  Plattsburg  and  Cape  Vincent; 
pay  the  most  pressing  debts  which  the  French  clergy  have  had 
to  contract;  to  build  new  chapels  in  places  wdu:-re  the  nucleus  of 
a  Catholic  population  already  exists ;  in  fine,  to  call  in  Sisters 
and  Brothers  to  instruct  the  children  of  poor  families  in  their 
religion  and  language.  It  is  doublless  a  noble  work  to  call  to 
the  faith  a  nation  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death  ;  but  when 
thousands  of  Catholics  are  pastorless,  and  these  Catholics  are  the 
descendants  of  the  French,  the  tai^k  of  preserving  them  from  the 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


467 


seductions  of  error  especially  recommends  itself  to  the  generosity 
of  France. 

If  tlie  bishops  and  clergy  of  Lower  Canada  grieve  to  see  emi- 
gration tend  to  the  United  Stat  s,  when  ^^  might  find  resources 


minishing  the  nu- 

tui  nt  hfis  been  per- 

C.inadians  to  the 

■Ives  in  the  fate 


in  the  upper  part  of  the  province  wit! 
merical  strength  of  Catholicity ;  if  this 
petuated  since  the  eftbrt  of  1775  to  d 
American  cause,  still  the  bishops  inter  st 
of  their  children  who  have  forsaken  theai ;  and  Mouseigneur 
Bourget,  the  prasent  Bishop  of  Montreal,  was  long  Vicar-general 
of  the  diocese  of  New  York  for  the  Canadians  in  the  north  of 
that  State.  Ho  has  frequently  administered  confirmation  at  Cor- 
beau  and  other  parishes  within  the  United  States,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  the  French  there  honor  the  arrival  of  the  prelate 
with  demonstrations  and  an  enthusiasm  which  astouisii  American 
phlegm.  Ever  since  the  foundation  of  the  See  of  Baltimore  in 
1790,  the  Canadian  clergy  have  taken  a  lively  interest  in  the 
liopes  of  religion  in  the  United  States ;  and  in  proof  of  the  as- 
sertion, we  arc  happy  to  be  able  to  cite  the  following  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  Bishop  Carroll,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1791,  by  the 
Right  Rev.  John  Francis  Hubert.  It  will  prove  that  if,  in  1776, 
Father  Carroll  saw  the  clergy  of  Montreal  avoid  him,  it  was  only 
in  consequence  of  the  political  character  borne  by  the  zealous 
restorer  of  religion  in  Maryland  : 

"  I  profit  by  a  moment  of  repose  left  by  the  affairs  of  the  dio- 
cese, to  send  you  my  tardy,  but  at  the  same  time  most  sincere 
felicitations,  on  your  promotion  to  the  See  of  Baltimore.  God 
has  used  you,  Monseigneur,  to  give  birth  to  a  new  Church,  to  es- 
tablish in  North  America  a  second  diocese,  which  will,  I  hope, 
hereafter  constitute  a  considerable  portion  of  Christ's  kingdom 
on  earth.  You  surely  have  not  established  it  without  great  pain 
and  great  merit.  With  all  my  heart  I  pray  Divine  Providence 
to  reward  you,  and  I  thank  Him  for  having  given  my  diocese  tho 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


2.8 


I.I 


1^ 

,50     """ 

t   lis. 


2.5 

iiiiiZ 

IIIIM 
III  1.8 


1-25      1.4      1.6 

•• 6"     

► 

Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


4^ 


<v 


:0^ 


:\ 


\ 


o^ 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


#/;%' 


MA 


i\  i:i 


!ir;  I 


4G8 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


advantage  of  having  another  CathoHc  diocese  in  its  neighbor- 
hood. 

"  Letters  from  Puris  tell  me  that  you  had  a  design  of  estab- 
lishing a  seminary  in  your  episcopal  city,  and  that  Mr.  Nagot,  a 
priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  had  gone  thither  witii  a  dozen  young  ec- 
clesiastics. You  could  not,  Monseigneur,  give  a  more  solid  base 
to  the  preservation  and  increase  of  true  faith  in  these  parts.  The 
particular  merit  of  that  director,  the  renown  of  the  house  to 
which  he  belongs,  are  so  many  arguments  that  prove  that  God, 
in  calling  you  to  the  episcopate,  has  given  you  the  necessary 
economy  and  wisdom  to  fill  it  with  success.  May  lie  long  pre- 
serve a  life  which  must  be  infinitely  dear  to  the  glory  of  His 
name,  and  the  spiritual  good  of  your  diocesans."* 

At  the  National  Council  of  Baltimore  in  1852,  the  Right  Rev. 
Armand  de  Charbounel,  Bishop  of  Toronto,  bound  still  closer 
the  bonds  of  spiritual  brotherhood  between  the  hierarchy  of  the 
United  States  and  that  of  Canada,  by  coming  to  take  a  seat  with 
the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  and  share  in  their  deliberations. 
The  American  prelates  have  often  gone  to  represent  their  wants 
to  the  Catholic  population  of  New  France,  and  returned  with 
considerable  alms. 

The  Bishops  of  Burlington  and  Cleveland  have  recently  called 
to  their  dioceses  Canadian  Sisters,  whose  zeal  equals  their  piety. 
The  two  prelates  have  found  that  it  was  much  more  economical 
than  to  draw  religious  from  Europe ;  and  it  is  an  examj^le  which 
others  of  their  venerable  brethren  would  imitate,  if  Canada  can 
deprive  herself  of  new  colonies  in  her  numerous  and  varied  fami- 
ly of  handmaids  of  the  Lord. 

We  have  thus  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  connection  of  the 
Canadian  Church  with  that  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  re- 

*  Archives  of  the  See  of  Quebec.  John  Francis  Hubert  ninth  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  consecrated  Coadjutor  in  November,  1786,  died  iu  October,  1797. 
He  had  been  missionary  at  Detroit. 


!-!l 


glibor- 


nei 


of  estab- 
Nagot,  a 
oung  ec- 
jolid  base 
Its.  The 
house  to 
that  God, 
uecessaiy 
long  pre- 
ry  of  His 

ight  Rev. 
till  closer 
hy  of  the 
[Seat  with 

)erations. 
r  wants 

ued  with 

y  called 
eir  piety. 
ououiical 

e  which 
nada  can 
ied  farai- 

n  of  the 


k,  m  re- 


Bishop  of 
ber,  1797. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


469 


gard  both  to  the  early  labors  of  Canadian  missionaries  among 
the  Indian  tribes  and  of  the  Catholic  part  of  the  population  which 
is  of  Canadian  origin  and  still  looks  to  Canada  for  spiritual  sue- 
cor.  The  rise  of  Catholicity  among  the  people  of  New  York  in 
the  diocese  of  Albany  now  claims  our  attention. 

Under  the  Dutch  and  British  rule  we  find  no  trace  of  Catho- 
licity at  Albany  down  to  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  The 
Catholic  Highlanders  in  the  Mohawk  valley  seem  to  stand  alone, 
and  even  they  were  unattended  by  clergymen,  so  far  as  we  know. 
After  the  war,  however,  a  number  of  Catholics  were  to  be  found 
at  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  as  early  as  1798  we  find  them 
erecting  a  church  in  which  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
faith  of  their  fathers.  Thomas  Barry  and  Louis  Le  Couteulx 
are  mentioned  as  founders,  and  their  names  are  connected  with 
early  Catholicity  in  other  parts.  A  notice  in  the  Albany  Gazette 
informs  us  that  the  contributions  for  its  erection  came  not  only 
from  the  Catholics  of  Albany  and  their  fellow-citizens,  but  from 
the  liberal  in  other  cities  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  It 
was  under  roof,  glazed,  and  floored  early  in  September,  and  we 
are  informed  by  the  papers  of  the  day  "  that  it  is  a  neat  building, 
and  will  be  an  ornament  to  the  city  and  a  lasting  blessing  to  all 
who  are  members  in  communion  of  that  church."  In  their  ap- 
peal to  the  Catholics  generally  for  means  to  complete  it,  the 
founders  say  :  "  Such  of  our  Catholic  brethren  in  this  neighbor- 
hood as  have  not  already  contributed,  it  is  hoped  will  now  come 
forward  and  offer  their  mite  to  discharge  the  last  payment  of 
the  contract,  there  being  but  a  small  sum  in  hand  for  that  pur- 
pose. To  give  to  the  Church,  is  it  not  to  lend  to  the  Lord,  who 
will  richly  repay  the  Iberal  giver  with  many  blessings  ?  Should 
not  all  the  members  unitedly  raise  their  voices  in  praise  to  God, 
who  has  cast  their  lot  in  this  good  land,  where  our  Church  is 
equally  protected  with  others,  and  where  we  all  so  bountifully 
partake  of  His  goodness  ?    What  is  man  without  religion,  which 


./"T^ 


K    i 


I 


■  ■!  I 


^1- 


HI 


470 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


teaches  us  the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbor,  and  to  be  in  charity 
with  all  mankind  ?     Surely  without  this  he  is  nothing."* 

As  appears  by  the  names  of  the  founders,  the  first  Catholics 
were  French  and  Irish,  and  among  the  former  we  may  mention 
Count  de  la  Tour  de  Pin  and  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Count  Dil- 
lon, of  the  Irish  brigade,  who,  after  serving  in  Rochambeau's 
army  during  our  Revolution,  perished  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.f 

The  resident  clergyman  under  whose  impulse  this  church  rose 
seems  to  have  been  the  Rev.  John  Thayer,  of  Boston,  whose  con- 
version to  the  faith  was  one  of  the  earliest  triumphs  of  religion 
here.  His  stay  was,  however,  short,  and  in  the  following  year 
we  find  him  in  Kentucky,  and  in  1800  the  Rev.  Dr.  Matthew 
O'Brien  seems  to  have  been  stationed  there,  as  he  preached  the 
funeral  oration  on  "Washington  in  the  church  in  the  month  of 
February,  and  officiated  there  later  in  the  year.J 

About  1807  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bushe  was  stationed  here,  and,  we 
believe,  died  on  the  mission ;  but  when  Father  Kohlmann,  as 
vicar-general,  was  charged  with  the  affairs  of  the  newly-formed 
diocese  of  New  York,  Albany  seems  to  have  been  without  a 
priest,  and  on  the  1st  of  May,  1811,  we  find  him  entreating  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  0.  Plessis,  Bishop  of  Quebec,  to  send  missiona- 
ries into  the   State  of  New  York.8     f         after,  however,  the 


*  We  are  indebted  for  these  extracts  to  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  Esq.,  so  well 
known  for  his  historical  works.  As  he  informs  us,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
church  bears  the  following  inscription : 

(Skull.)  I.  H.  S.  (Cross-boncR.) 

Thomas  BABfty,  founders. 

Louis  Le  Couteulx,  ) 

E.  C.  QciN,  Master  Builder. 

A.  D.1T98. 

t  Watson,  Memoirs.    Memoirs  du  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld. 

X  Information  given  us  by  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan  and  C.  J.  Cannon,  Esq. 
See  Spalding's  Sketches  of  Kentucky,  p.  78.  A  full  account  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Thayer  will  be  given  under  the  diocese  of  Boston. 

§  Archives  of  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  for  the  examination  of  which  we  are 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Ferland. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


471 


1  we  are 


Rev.  Mr.  McQuaid  was  stationed  there,  but  on  the  arrival  of 
Bishop  Connolly,  that  clergyman  resolved  to  return  to  Ireland, 
notwithstanding  the  urgent  appeals  of  the  newly-appointed 
bishop.  For  a  time  Albany  was  without  a  pastor,  but  the  good 
bishop  sent  up  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman,  little  as  he  could 
spare  him  from  New  York.  This  clergyman  not  only  served 
Albany,  but  extended  his  labors  to  the  Indians  at  St.  Regis,  visit- 
ing on  the  way  the  scattered  Catholics  in  various  parts,  saying 
Mass,  instructing,  and  baptizing. 

In  1822  the  Rev.  Michael  Carroll  was  pastor  of  Albany,  visit- 
ing also  Troy,  Lansingburg,  Johnstown,  and  Schenectady.  Since 
then  it  has  had  a  regular  succession  of  pastors,  many  of  them 
men  of  remarkable  devotedness  and  zeal.  Just  at  the  period  of 
Bishop  Dubois'  appointment,  the  Catholics  of  Albany  were  en- 
deavoring to  erect  a  new  and  larger  church,  but  met  with  such 
difficulties  that  they  succeeded  in  completing  it  only  by  aid 
which  he  obtained  from  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith.*  As  his  clergy  increased,  he  placed  pastors  in  the 
neighboring  cities,  and  the  Rev.  John  Shanahan  was  for  many 
years  the  devoted  pastor  of  Troy,  visiting  also  Lansingburg, 
where  a  number  of  Catholics  had  gathered. 

About  1830  the  Sisters  of  Charity  came  to  Albany,  and  as- 
sumed the  charge  of  the  orphan  asylum  and  schools,  which  they 
have  continued  to  direct  to  the  present  time. 

The  Catholics  in  this  diocese  are  more  widely  scattered  than 
in  that  of  New  York,  and  we  find  them  from  an  early  period 
gathering  at  certain  points,  of  which  we  shall  give  a  few  brief 
notices  before  commencing  an  account  of  the  labors  of  the  amia 
ble  prelate  who  fills  the  See  of  Albany. 

St.  James'  Church,  at  Carthage,  was  built  in  the  year  1819  by 
James  Leray,  Esq.,  a  Catholic  gentleman,  who  owned  a  large 

*  Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  451. 


tfPSBHBi 


mhh 


473 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I'  . 


:  I !  f 


U^^^ 


'  ii 


I      :l 


'    il 


!  !   sE 


property  there,  to  which  he  drew  many  CathoHc  settlers,  who, 
with  their  descendants,  still  occupy  the  spot,  directed  by  a  cler- 
gyman brought  up  in  their  midst.  Having  had  the  advantage 
of  living  together  under  the  shadow  of  the  Church,  they  are  as 
faithful  to  their  religion  as  though  they  lived  in  the  most  favored 
Catholic  country.  By  their  industry  most  are  now  easy  farmers, 
owning  the  greater  part  of  two  townships,  and  numbering  about 
ten  thousand.  Their  schools,  made  up  exclusively  of  (Catholics, 
are  well  attended  and  well  conducted.* 

Utica  was  another  point  where  the  Catholics  centered  and 
have  increased  prosperously.  John  C.  Devereux,  and  his  wife's 
family,  the  Barrys,  from  Albany,  settled  here  about  1800,  and 
were  joined  a  few  years  later  by  Nicholas  Devereux,  whose  recent 
loss  is  so  much  deplored.  This  little  band  of  Catholics  seems  to 
have  been  first  visited  about  1813  or  1814  by  a  clergyman  from 
Albany,  probably  the  Rev.  Mr.  McQuaid,  and  he  certainly  visited 
them  occasionally  down  to  the  period  of  his  departure  for  Ire- 
land. On  Sundays  the  Catholics  generally  met  to  read  Mass 
prayers,  though  many  attended  Protestant  meetings.  At  last,  on 
the  10th  of  January,  1819,  after  hearing  Mass  celebrated  by  the 
Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman,  the  Catholics  prepared  to  incorporate 
themselves  according  to  law,  and  on  the  25  th,  John  O'Connor, 
John  C.  Devereux  and  Nicholas  Devereux  of  Utica,  Morris  Hogan 
of  New  Hartford,  Oliver  Weston,  Thomas  McCarthy,  and  James 
Lynch  of  Salina,  John  McGuire  of  Rochester,  and  Charles  Car- 
roll of  Genesee  River,  were  duly  elected  "  Trustees  of  the  First 
Catholic  Church  in  the  Western  District  of  New  York."  Pur- 
chasing three  lots  of  ground,  they  collected  means  and  erected  a 
church,  designed  in  very  good  taste,  which  cost  about  four  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  Devereux  were  the  chief  benefactors  of  it, 
contributing  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  amount,  and  many  Prot- 

*  Information  from  Rev,  M.  E,  Clark. 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


473 


31-9,  who, 

y  a  cler- 
dvantage 
jy  are  as 
t  favored 
'  farmers, 
Qg  about 
^"latholics, 

tered  and 
his  wife's 
1800,  and 
098  recent 
seems  to 
man  from 
Illy  visited 
3  for  Ire- 
•ead  Mas3 
1  last,  on 
[cd  by  the 
[Corporate 
I'Connov, 
•is  Hogan 
Ind  James 
irles  Car- 
the  First 
Pur- 
jrected  a 
tur  thou- 
>rs  of  it, 
.ny  Prot- 


n 


cstants  contributing  liberally,  for  the  number  of  Catholics  was 
small. 

The  first  pastor  at  Utica  was  the  Rev.  John  Farnan,  who  vis- 
ited also  the  Catholics  of  Western  New  York,  and  even  beyond 
the  frontier  of  the  United  States.  St.  James',  at  Carthage,  was 
also  visited  by  him,  and  he  attended  the  vai'ious  stations  along 
the  Erie  Canal.  His  career  here  was  not  exemplary,  and  his 
faculties  were  withdrawn.  The  Rev.  Richard  Bulger,  a  holy  and 
apostolic  man,  and  the  Rev.  John  Shanahan,  whom  we  have  seen 
laboring  at  Troy,  were  next  stationed  at  Utica,  where  the  latter 
is  still  remembeJ'ed  for  his  zeal  and  disinterestedness.  A  number 
of  other  clergymen  followed,  all  for  brief  periods,  inasmuch  as 
here,  too,  trustees  claimed  to  hold  all,  and  frequently  deprived 
the  pastor  of  a  competent  support.  By  such  ill-judged  conduct 
they  deprived  the  Catholics  of  Utica  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cummings 
and  Rev.  James  B.  Cahill,  two  accomplished  clergymen,  who 
came  from  France  in  1830  in  consequence  of  the  revolution  of 
July,  which  raised  Louis  Philippe  to  the  throne.  The  Rev.  Wal- 
ter J.  Quarter,  afterwards  Administrator  and  Vicar-general  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago,  at  last  became  pastor,  and  first  gave  stability 
to  affairs  at  Utica;  yet  even  then  the  trustees  would  not  grant 
any  salary  to  his  assistant,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Beecham. 

In  1834  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  under  Sister  St.  Etienne  as 
Sister  Servant,  came  to  Utica  to  take  charge  of  an  asylum  and 
girls'  school,  erected  by  the  Messrs.  Devereux  at  an  expense  of 
nearly  ten  thousand  dollars.  They,  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  by 
a  liberal  yearly  contribution,  enabled  the  Sisters  to  remain  when 
want  of  support  was  compelling  them  also  to  retire. 

The  church  at  Utica  proving  too  small,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quarter, 
in  1835,  undertook  the  erection  of  a  new  one,  in  which  he  hap- 
pily succeeded,  Mass  being  said  in  the  new  edifice  for  the  first 
time  on  Christmas-day  in  the  following  year.  Among  the  cler- 
gymen who  were  from  time  to  time  assistants  of  Mr.  Quarter 


474 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


SI'  T|S 


I   • 


M 


!  ;i 


ti:i 


I  ; 


were  two  who  ha\e  since  been  raised  to  the  episcopacy — the  Rt 
Kov.  D.  W.  Bacon,  now  Bisliop  of  Portland,  and  the  Kt.  Rev. 
John  Loughlin,  now  Bishop  of  Brooklyn. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Martin,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers,  was  pas- 
tor from  1841  to  1845,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  zealous 
etforts  to  put  down  intemperance,  and  for  an  earnest  protest 
against  the  intolerance  of  the  State  government,  which  forced  the 
employees  in  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  to  attend  Protestant 
worship.  By  this  time  many  of  the  stations  served  from  Utica 
had  become  parishes,  with  churches  and  pastors  of  their  own.* 
Rome,  visited  in  1836  by  the  Rev.  William  Beecham,  a  graduate 
of  Carlo w  College,  had  by  1840  exchanged  the  cooper's  loft  for 
the  modest  church  of  St.  Peter's,  which  became  a  centre  from 
which  the  pastor  visited  a  district  of  a  hundred  miles  around 
him.  Churches  arose,  too,  at  Verona,  Oneida,  Florence,  Consta- 
bleville,  Waterville,  and  "West  Utica,  so  that  Central  New  York 
began  to  blossom  like  a  garden  with  the  flowers  of  Catholic  faith 
and  piety .f 

Salina,  now  a  part  of  Syracuse,  had  a  church  in  1829,  due  to 
the  exertions  of  James  Lynch,  Esq.,  and  Thomas  McCarthy,  Esq. 
It  was  occasionally  attended  from  Utica  till  1832,  when  the  Rev. 
Francis  O'Donoghue  was  appointed  the  first  resident  pastor. 
From  1839  it  has  been  the  field  of  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Michael 
Heas,  who  has  seen  many  others  grow  up  around  him.  The 
Catholics  of  Syracuse,  among  others,  purchased  a  lot  in  1842,  to 
which  they  removed  an  Episcopalian  church  similarly  purchased. 

By  this  time,  too,  Schenectady,  Sandy  Hill,  Keeseville,  Malone, 
Binghamton,  Little  Falls,  and  Saratoga  had  their  churches  and 
resident  pastors ;  and  so  extensive  had  become  the  followers  of 
Catholicity  in  that  part  of  the  State,  that  the  Holy  See  resolved 

*  Memoir  furnished  by  the  kindness  of  the  Rev.  F.  P.  McFarland. 
t  Information  derived  from  the  Rev.  Wm.  Beecham,  the  pioneer  pastor 
of  Rome. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


476 


to  erect  that  portion  into  a  new  diocese,  the  See  of  which  ahould 
be  Albany.  Tlio  diocese  is  bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by 
the  Hniits  of  the  State,  and  extends  westward  to  the  eastern 
limits  of  Cayuga,  Tompkins,  and  Tioga  counties,  and  southward 
to  the  forty-second  degree. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  John  McCloskey,  born  at  Brooklyn,  and  actually 
coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  was  transferred  in  1847  to 
the  new  See  of  Albany,  which  he  has  ever  since  governed  with 
the  greatest  harmony  and  advantage  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
On  taking  possession  of  his  See,  Albany  contained  St.  Mary's, 
which  became  his  cathedral,  with  three  other  churches,  one  of 
them  exclusively  for  the  Germans.  The  orphan  asylum  of  St. 
Vincent  had  from  about  1830  been  under  the  charge  of  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  from  Emmetsburg,  who  also  directed  a  school  for 
girls.  The  remainder  of  his  diocese  contained  about  forty 
churches  and  less  than  that  number  of  clergymen.  The  zealous 
prelate  immediately  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  endowing  his 
diocese  with  all  that  the  wants  of  the  faithful  required.  This  task 
has  been  the  more  difficult,  as  the  Catholics  are  scattered,  few  of 
tliem  wealthy,  and  prejudices  against  them  more  bitter  than  in 
parts  where  Catholics  and  Protestants  are  constantly  in  contact 
with  each  other.  Under  his  impulse  Jfroy  founded  an  orphan 
asylum  confided  to  the  Sisters  of  Charii.} .  and  in  1851  the  bishop 
had  the  happiness  of  securing  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  who  opened  at  Troy  the  Academy  of  St.  Joseph,  and  at 
the  same  time  assumed  the  direction  of  a  second  orphan  asylum, 
intended  exclusively  for  boys.* 

The  Sisters  of  Ciiarity,  thus  relieved  of  a  part  of  their  labors, 
sought  a  new  field  for  their  devotedness,  and  in  the  same  year 
opened  a  hospital,  which  has  been  of  signal  service  to  the  city. 


*  It  now  contains  350  boys  under  tlie  cliurgo  of  the  Christian  Brotliers; 
the  jrirls'  school,  under  the  charge  of  eight  Sisters  of  Charity,  has  350  girls 
and  56  orphans. 


470 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUllCU 


t    m 


no  less  than  seven  lunulrod  and  ei^djty-uinc  patients  having  been 
received  into  it  in  one  year. 

Most  of  these  creations  are  due,  under  the  excellent  bishop,  to 
the  zeal,  devotedness,  and  perseverance  of  the  Kev.  1*.  Haver- 
mans,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Ciiurch. 

To  give  his  diocese  an  institution  in  which  young  ladies 
might  obtain  a  higher  degree  of  education  than  the  schools 
already  in  operation  afforded.  Bishop  McCloskey  applied,  and 
not  inisuccessfully,  to  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  A  colony 
of  that  order  arrived  in  Albany  in  1852,  and  opened  an  academy 
in  a  central  and  agreeable  position.  The  high  standard  of  in- 
struction afforded  by  these  pious  followers  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
has  here,  as  in  all  other  parts,  met  with  general  appreciation. 
The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  meanwhile  extended  the 
institutions  of  their  order  in  the  diocese.  In  1854  they  assumed 
the  direction  of  a  new  asylum  for  boys,  erected  by  the  bishop  on 
a  farm  about  a  mile  from  his  cathedral,  and  in  the  following 
year  opened  a  large  academy  at  (Jtica,  which  cost  over  seven- 
teen thousand  dollars,  and  is  due  chiefly  to  the  zealous  exertions 
of  the  late  Nicholas  Devereux  of  that  city. 

The  churches  and  clergymen  in  the  diocese  have  increased  in 
proportion  to  the  other  institutions.  The  churches  now  amount 
to  eighty-seven,  with  nine  more  in  process  of  erection.  The 
clergy  numbers  seventy-four,  among  whom  are,  as  we  have  seen, 
several  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate,  in 
charge  of  the  French  parishes  in  the  north  of  the  State,  and 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who  direct  St.  Joseph's  Church 
at  Troy  and  ro  German  church  at  Syracuse. 

The  Congregation  of  Missionaries  (Oblates)  was  founded  in 
1815  at  Aix,  in  Provence,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Joseph  Eugene 
Mazenod,  now  Bishop  of  Marseilles.  Feeling  himself  called  to  de- 
vote himself  to  the  spiritual  service  of  the  poor  and  prisoners,  he 
began  regular  instructions  in  the   churches  and  visits  to  the 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


4T7 


prisons.  Others  soon  joinod  liiin,  and  in  order  to  consolidate  tlio 
work,  he  drew  up  constitutions  and  rules.  The  fathers  behold 
in  these  the  will  of  God,  and  applied  themselves  to  attain  reli- 
gious perfection  by  close  adherence  to  tliein.  Tlio  prelates  of 
Provence  and  Dauphiny  all  approved  the  new  institute,  and  urged 
the  founder  to  solicit  the  confirmation  of  his  rule  by  the  Holy 
Sec.  After  a  long  examination  by  a  congregation  of  cardinals, 
Pope  Leo  XII.  solemnly  approved  the  institute  and  rule  on  the 
I7th  of  April,  1820,  and  the  missionaries  received  from  the  Holy 
Father  himself  tlie  name  of  Oblate  Missionaries  of  Mary  con- 
ceived without  sin.  Letters  apostolic,  by  an  exception  made  in 
their  favor,  were  issued  on  the  21st  of  March  in  the  same  year, 
canonically  establishing  the  congregation. 

Their  objects  are,  parish  missions,  the  direction  of  theological 
seminaries,  the  spiritual  direction  of  young  men,  the  poor,  prison- 
ers, and  those  in  special  need  of  instruction ;  and  lastly,  the  for- 
eign missions.  Like  the  Society  of  Jesus,  they  place  their  ser- 
vices iu  a  special  manner  at  the  command  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  are  ever  ready  to  repair  to  any  part  of  the  world  for 
the  good  of  religion. 

The  Congregation  had  spread  to  various  parts  of  France, 
Switzerland,  Savoy,  and  Sardinia,  when,  in  1841,  the  Right  Rev. 
Ignatius  Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  solicited  a  colony  for  his 
diocese.  While  the  order  afterwards  spread  rapidly  in  Europe, 
it  assuitied  a  no  less  remarkable  development  in  America.  A 
novitiate  was  opened  at  Montreal,  which  many  devoted  clergy- 
men entered,  and  ere  long  the  Oblate  missionaries  were  directing 
institutions  of  learning,  and  exercising  the  holy  ministry  wherever 
the  need  was  the  greatest.  The  Indian  missions  especially  at- 
tracted them,  and  from  the  Saguenay  to  the  Pacific  they  may 
now  be  found,  laboring  to  evangelize  the  aborigines.  Already 
has  this  new  order  furnished  the  ancient  Church  of  Canada 
with  two  zealous  prelates.     Of  their  entrance  into  New  Ycik, 


p 


478 


THE   CATHOLIC  CIIUIICII 


!       I! 


'.    ' 


wi': 


if'  ^f 

si 

if.     I 

h  ■ 

i  I 
!  S 
■  I 


and  their  hibora  atuong  tlio  lui"sakeu  Canadians,  wo  have  aht'adjr 
spoken.*' 

Bt'ibro  leaving  the  dioceso  of  Albany,  wo  cannot  omit  re- 
counting a  conversion  which  brought  many  Protestants  of  Onon- 
daga into  tho  Churcii.  Syracuse,  tlio  chief  phice  of  the  county, 
numbered  among  its  earliest,  and  still  among  its  most  influential 
residents,  the  families  of  Lynch  and  McCarthy,  by  whoso  zeal 
chiefly  the  house  of  God  has  been  erected  and  upheld.  Yet 
Catholicity  was  all  but  unknown.  One  evening  in  the  spring  of 
1830,  an  Irish  peddler,  urging  his  horse  and  wagon  through  tho 
miry   roads,  broke  down    not  far  from  the  house    of   Colonel 

D ,  a  wealthy  farmer,  near  Pompey.     With  tho   friendly 

feeling  usual  in  tho  country,  the  colonel  went  out  to  offer  his  as- 
sistance ;  but  it  was  evident  that  the  harness  needed  repairs, 
which  would  detain  him  till  morning.  He  accordingly  invited 
the  peddler  to  pass  the  night  there :  tho  latter  accepted  the  kindly 
welcome,  and  after  stabling  his  horse,  entered  the  house.  Sup- 
per was  scarcely  ended,  when  Mrs. began  to  feel  anxious 

about  his  remaining;  for  tho  man  was  Irish,  evidently,  and  prob- 
ably a  Catholic.  The  peddler,  little  aware  of  the  terror  he  was 
causing,  freely  avowed  his  faith,  and  now  nothing  could  exceed 
the  distress  of  the  gentleman  and  his  wife.  Too  good-hearted  to 
turn  the  man  out,  they  prepared  themselves  for  some  terrible 
mishap.  The  colonel  talked  with  him  for  a  time  on  religious 
matters,  but  the  peddler  was  not  able  to  give  such  explanations 
as  ho  needed.  When  bedtime  came,  he  was  carefully,  but  si- 
lently, locked  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  family  retired  to  imeasy 
beds.     On  departing  the  next  morning,  after  having  repaired  the 

accident,  the  peddler  offered  Mr.  D a  small  book  on  the 

Catholic  religion,  which,  with  some  others,  formed  part  of  his 
stock ;  and,  thanking  him  for  his  hospitality,  journeyed  on.     The 

*  Annalea  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xii.  281. 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


470 


0  ftln'ft<ly 

omit  ve- 

of  Ouoti- 
le  county, 
influential 
irhoso  zeal 
K,ia.     Yet 
3  sprii>g  of 
irough  tho 
jf   Colonel 
le   friendly 
)ffer  his  as- 
led  repairs, 
igly  invited 

1  the  kindly 
:)use.  Sup- 
eel  anxious 

,  and  prob- 
rror  he  was 
uld  exceed 
ll-hearted  to 
Imc  terrible 
n  religious 
xplauations 
illy,  but  si- 
to  uneasy 
paired  the 
,ok  on  the 
part  of  his 
Id  on.    The 


colonel  rend  the  book,  and  was  tillod  with  surprise  and  nstonisli- 
ment :  ho  inducod  his  wife  to  take  it  up  ;  she  was  no  less 
amazed.  Catholicity,  as  Catholics  know  and  practise  it,  was, 
she  saw,  as  dilForcnt  from  Catholicity  portrayed  by  Prottistant 
ministers  and  tracts,  as  day  is  from  night.  When  the  peddler 
returned,  they  took  such  other  books  as  he  had,  and  finding,  in 
tho  end  of  one,  a  catalogue  of  Catholic  books,  they  ordered  them 
from  New  York.  Conviction  began  to  dawn  upon  their  minds 
that  tho  Reformation  was  a  mere  human  act,  entirely  unauthor- 
ized by  any  divine  commission,  and  completely  at  variance  with 
Christ's  promises.  They  consulted  the  Presbyterian  minister  to 
whose  church  they  had  belonged,  but  were  "o  far  from  being 
satisfied  with  his  explanations,  that  they  lost  no  occasion  of 
proving  to  their  neighbors  that  the  Reformation  was  all  wrong. 
Provoked  at  this,  the  minister  had  them  both  arraigned  for  here- 
sy, and  formally  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

They  now  entered  into  correspondence  with  a  Catholic  clergy- 
man, and  all  doubts  being  soon  cleared  away,  they  were  baptized 
at  Utica,  on  Christmas-diiy,  1836.  Many  other  members  of  their 
family  and  neighbors  imitated  their  example,  and  in  less  than  a 
year  sixteen  persons  abjured  Protestant i'^m,  and  embraced  the 
faith.  Others  have  since  joined  this  nucleus  of  the  faithful ;  and 
thus,  by  a  special  providence  of  God,  a  number  of  Protestants, 
amid  a  population  embittered  against  Catholics  by  prejudices 
and  falsehoods,  which  designing  men  even  now,  in  the  light  of 
boasted  freedom,  are  not  ashamed  to  perpetuate,  were  led,  with- 
out even  hearing  tho  words  of  a  priest,  into  the  very  Church  of 
Christ.* 

On  the  division  of  the  State,  a  See  was  fixed  also  at  Buffalo, 
with  a  diocese  comprising  Cayuga,  Tompkins,  and  Tioga  coun- 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xii.  281. 


mtti 


480 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


i  i 


!   I 


liJ 


.11  ij: 

mil 


III 

III 


ties,  and  all  those  west  of  them.  To  fill  this  See,  the  choice  of 
the  Holy  See  fell  upon  the  Rev.  John  Timon,  a  priest  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Missions.  Born  in  Missouri,  he  at  an  early 
age  entered  the  novitiate  at  the  Barrens,  and  while  still  a  divinity 
student,  commenced  a  public  course  of  controversy  in  reply  to 
the  attacks  of  some  Protestant  clergymen.*  Soon  after  his  or- 
dination, when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Green,  a  Protestant  minister,  inter- 
fered between  him  and  a  poor  culprit  whom  he  had  converted 
and  baptized,  he  challenged  the  minister  to  a  public  discussion, 
and  completely  silenced  him.f  His  missionary  career  was  most 
varied  ,  and  Texas,  especially,  may  regard  him  as  the  founder  of 
its  present  Catholic  establishments,  while  hardly  a  city  of  the 
West  has  not  felt  the  effect  of  his  missions  and  retreats.^  At 
the  time  of  his  nomination  to  the  See  of  Buffalo,  he  was  Visitor 
of  his  Congregation  in  the  United  States,  and  had  twice  assisted 
as  Superior  in  the  sessions  of  the  Provincial  Councils  at  Balti- 
more.§  He  was  consecrated  at  New  York  on  the  17th  of  Octo- 
ber, 184*7,  and  on  the  23d  arrived  in  Buffalo,  accompanied  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishops  Hughes,  Walsh,  and  McCloskey.  Here 
he  was  enthusiastically  received  by  a  large  body  of  Catholics, 
who  escorted  their  prelate  in  procession  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  where  he  bestowed  upon  them  his  episcopal  benedic- 
tion.ll 

The  portion  committed  to  his  care  was  the  last  settled  in  the 
State,  and  Catholicity  is  there  of  more  recent  date.  The  old 
French  fort  at  Niagara,  begun  originally  in  December,  1678,  by 
the  celebrated  explorer.  La  Salle,  as  one  of  his  line  of  posts,  had 
been  more  or  less  regularly  attended  by  chaplains  from  that 
date.  It  was  visited,  in  1679,  by  the  romantic  Father  Hennepin, 
of  the  Order  of  Recollects,  or  Reformed  Franciscans,  and  by  the 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  ii.  365. 

X  Id.,  xii.  34,  279  ;  xv.  365. 

I  Concilia  Boltimori  habita,  211-238. 


t  Id.,  V.  595. 
i  Id.,  xxi.  81. 


■i 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


481 


jhoice  of 
st  of  the 
an  early 
a  divinity 
1  reply  to 
ter  his  or- 
ster,  inter- 
converted 
discussion, 
r  was  most 
I  founder  of 
city  of  the 
:reats.t    ^.t 
-was  Visitor 
vice  assisted 
ils  at  Balti- 
rth  of  Octo- 
mpanied  by 
jskey.    Here 
)f  Catholics, 
lurch  of  St. 
,a\  benedic- 

Lttled  in  the 
L     The  old 
|er,  16l8,by 
pf  posts,  had 
[is  from  that 
er  Hennepin, 
L  and  by  the 

It  Id.,  V.  595. 
Id.,  xxi.  81. 


)'■ 


still  more  distiniruished  Fathers  Gabriel  do  la  Kibourde  and 
Zenobe  Membre,  of  the  same  order,  both  martyrs  to  their  zeal  in 
endeavoring-  to  plant  the  faith  amid  the  wilderness.*  Here,  on 
his  departure  for  the  AVest,  La  Salle  left  as  chaplain  another 
Recollect,  Father  Melithon  Wattcau,  with  a  small  party.  Hither 
La  Salle  returned  on  foot,  baffled,  but  not  discouraged,  in  April, 
1680;  and  he  set  out  from  it  again  in  1G82,  on  his  memorable 
expedition,  which  had  the  glory  of  first  descending  the  Missis- 
sippi to  its  mouth.  On  the  disastrous  end  of  La  Salle,  his  post 
at  Niagara  was  abandoned,  and  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  the 
Seneca  country,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  elsewhere,  were  the 
only  priests  c^  Catholicity  in  Western  New  York.  In  1687,  the 
Marquis  de  Denonville,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  Governor  Don- 
gan,  took  possession  of  the  spot  in  July,  and  began  to  rebuild 
the  fort.  Denonville  had  just  returned  from  his  expedition 
against  the  Senecas,  and  restored  Niagara,  as  a  check  upon  them. 
The  Jesuit  Father  John  de  Lamberville  was  the  first  chaplain  of 
the  new  fort,  having  reached  it  in  September,  1687.  But  the 
garrison,  closely  blockaded  by  the  Indians,  was  attacked  by  the 
scurvy,  and  the  missionary,  sick  himself,  was  dragged  on  the  ice 
to  Fort  Frontenac,  which  he  reached  almost  in  a  dying  condi- 
tion. He  was  succeeded  by  Father  Peter  Milet,  who  remained 
till  the  evacuation  of  the  fort  in  September,  1688.  The  official 
account  of  the  commandant  at  that  time  states  that  he  demol- 
ished the  ramparts,  leaving  the  houses  and  cabins,  in  order  to 
prove  possession,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  fort,  a  cross  eighteen 
feet  high,  which  the  officers  had  planted  on  Good  Friday,  after 
it  had  been  solemnly  blessed  by  Father  Milet.  This  cross  bore 
the  inscription,  "  Christus  vincit,  Christus  regnat,  Christus  im- 
perat ;"  and  it  remained  to  foretell  the  future  triumphs  of  reli- 
gion, where,  almost  beneath  its  shadow,  now  rises  the  noble 

*  Shea,  History  of  tlie  Catholic  Missions,  412,  484. 
21 


482 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ill 

II  :  I 


M:i 


Cathedral  of  Buffalo.  The  chaplain's  cabin  is  thus  described : 
"  The  Rev.  Father  Milet's  cabin,  furnished  with  its  chimney,  win- 
dows and  sashes,  shelves,  a  bedstead  and  four  boards  arranged 
inside,  with  a  door  furnished  with  its  fastenings  and  hinges,  the 
whole  cabin  being  made  of  twenty-four  boards."* 

In  1721  the  French  resumed  possession  of  Niagara,  which  they 
held  till  the  fatal  battle  in  which  the  gallant  Aubry  was  defeated, 
in  his  attempt  to  relieve  it.  The  fort  then  surrendered,  in  1759. 
During  this  interval  of  thirty-eight  years,  the  fort  had  undoubt- 
edly a  Recollect  chaplain,  because  the  king  assigned  one  to  every 
fort  holding  over  forty  men,  and  the  garrison  at  Niagara  always 
exceeded  that  number.  We  do  not,  however,  find  any  mention- 
ed by  name,  except  the  celebrated  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel ; 
and  the  register  of  the  fort  is  unfortunately  lost,  having  probably 
been  carried  to  Albany  after  the  surrender.f 

The  Revolution  checked  the  progress  of  settlements  in  that 
part,  and  emigration  did  not  revive  till  the  close  of  the  century. 
The  number  of  Catholics  who  settled  here  continued  to  be  very 
small  for  many  years ;  and  these  were  long  without  a  pastor.  It 
was  not  till  Bishop  Connolly  took  possession  that  a  priest  was 
stationed  in  this  part  of  New  York;  and,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  the  first  pastor  sent  to  seek  out  the  strayed  sheep  in 
that  district  is  still  alive,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry. 
This  is  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly,  who,  sent  to  the  West,  erected, 
about  1820,  St.  Patrick's  Church  in  Rochester,  then  a  small  vil- 


•(       il;,:! 


I  '9m 
i  Wi 

Am 


*  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  i.  243-275.  Colonial  Documents, 
ix.  887. 

t  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel,  of  the  Order  of  St,  Francis,  came  to  Canada 
in  1728,  was  chaplain  at  Crown  Point,  and  then  at  Niagara.  He  also  visited 
Detroit,  and  attended  an  expedition  against  the  Fox  Indians  in  Wisconsin, 
in  1728.  He  set  sail  for  Europe  in  1742,  but  was  wrecked  at  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  Those  who  reached  the  shore,  almost  all  perished  of 
cold  or  hunger.  Father  Crespel  survived,  and  on  his  return  to  Europe,  pub- 
liAhed  an  account  of  hi^  travels,  which  is  remarkably  interesting. 


a; 


'Mm 


as  described : 
jhimney,  win- 
irds  arranged 
d  hinges,  the 

•a,  which  they 
was  defeated, 

ered,  in  1759. 

had  undoubt- 

1  one  to  every 

I  iagara  always 
any  mention- 

inuel  Crespel ; 

,ving  probably 

ments  in  that 
»f  the  century, 
ued  to  be  very 
t  a  pastor.  It 
it  a  priest  was 
ige  as  it  may 
■ayed  sheep  in 
[  the  ministry. 
West,  erected, 
en  a  small  vil- 

jnial  Documents, 

9,  came  to  Canada 
I.  He  also  visited 
ans  in  Wisconsin, 
.  at  the  mouth  of 
st  all  perished  of 
rn  to  Europe,  pub- 
esting. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES.  ^gg 

>«  >829,  but  blessed  the  groundl;  sTt    ""  "■""'*  '"  ^"f"'" 
i>m  by  William  B.  Lo  CouCk^       ±""  '"""''''  ^«»  to 
too,  "  I  found  seven  or  It tS*.  rT"'"  ""^  ""'^'  «'  "- 
<i.a"s,S„is^and Irish, insmr''*         ^'^^h,  Cana- 
ed.  Although  I  did  n  t  u™d^'"'^"  ' '"'"'  ^"'^  "f"™- 
ao  confessions  of  t„o  hund^  d  s^"™^?' ^  ""' ""'^od  to  hear 
English  nor  French.    These  InJ""''  7^"  ™d«rBtood  neither 
P-^iWo  joy  at  being^Salld  ?    '""     t"^"""'''  »  ™- 
celebrated  a  solemn  mZ  in  tb     "Pf  T •"  ""^  ^""^-^^ts.    I 

J^dredCatholicsandCtlltb        """•"'•"  """'  -gh 
^-  erected  on  the  vC^Z^Z^^-    ^■""'^  ^"^ 
The  presence  of  a  bishoi,  tb.     Tf  ■'"'^^^^  "^"^b  sat 

'Jo  number  of  com^n  Ln^t  !''»V'  '"^  ^oly  Saerilic^ 
chant,  the  administration  Tf  .he  'l  f  """  «™"'^  »'  "«' 
confe„ed  on  thirty  „r  forty  nl"*  "'  ^"P"""'  -^ich  I 
tion."t  ^  f^'^™'  P'-xluced  a  general  emo- 

In  1834,  twelve  rears  l.t.. 
Catholicity,  that  we'ContC  n ".'I  ""^"  '""^  P™S-ss  of 
-  -w  the  diocese  of  Buff^    T       ""^"  ^P'o^od  in  what 
Mer.^  and  the  Rev.  Bernard  oJm      T.  ""^  Rev.  Nicholas 
"vo  of  Germany,  ordained  in  bt1,ai  "  ***  ''^  "  "- 

'eceived  into  the  diocese  of  Babim  '""""^  '»  ''9',  but 

".v  whom  he  was  always  mur  ''' ''"''°'' •'''™"- 

^mt  fifteen  years  at  BZLZtZT':'.  ""  ""'•^'"^<'-     He     ■ 

-erofhi^     C:ir  :rii,: 


AnuaJes  de  la  Propagalion  de  ,„  Foi,  iv.  455. 


1| 


mh^mmi 


t'i  !;  I 


mi 


'^  'III 


481 


THE   CATHOLIC  ClIUKCII 


with  the  most  untiling  zciil  fVoni  the  year  1829  till  his  death,  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1844,  when  lie  expired,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one.* 

Tho  Eev.  Bernard  O'Reilly,  whose  loss  in  the  ill-fated  Pacific 
all  are  now  deploring,  was  connected  with  the  church  at  Roches- 
ter from  about  1832  till  the  period  of  his  nomination  to  the 
episcopal  See  of  Ilartford.  In  that  city  his  zeal  and  labors  were 
untiring ;  and  most  of  the  institutions  there,  of  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  sjjeak  hereafter,  are  due  to  his  energy  and  devo- 
tedness. 

In  1835,  Williamsville  had  as  pastor  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wyatt,  fol- 
lowed soon  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneider,  who  long  labored  here. 
Auburn,  too,  had  a  pastor,  in  1834,  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  J. 
O'Donoghue,  who  purchased  a  small  Methodist  meeting-house, 
and  made  it  the  first  Catholic  church  in  the  place.  But  during 
the  effervescence  of  minds  at  that  time,  the  presence  of  a  cler- 
gyman was  so  disliked,  that  a  young  man  was  surprised  in  the 
act  of  setting  fire  to  the  church  while  the  poor  and  scanty  con- 
gregation were  assembled  in  it.f  In  1838,  Eden  and  Lockport 
had  also  their  pastors,  and  the  Germans  had  erected  at  Rochester 
a  church,  attended  by  Father  Joseph  Frost  and  Father  Simon 
Sanderl,  both  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer, 
who  thus  inaugurated  the  missions  of  their  order  in  Western 
New  York,  which  have  continued  to  the  present  time,  and  been 
fruitful  in  good.  They  have  also  a  large  and  still  more  flourish- 
ing church  of  their  order  at  Rochester,  where  four  Fathers  are 
constantly  employed  in  the  ministry. 

Other  churches  arose  at  other  points,  and  when  the  diocese 
was  divided,  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  found,  on  taking  possession 
of  his  See,  eighteen  clergymen  in  the  district  committed  to  his 


*  Catholic  Almanac,  1S45,  p.  179. 
+  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  254. 
O'Flaherty. 


Letter  of  Eev.  P, 


(I    jiil^i:;: 


L'T  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


485 


Icatli,  on 
)f  eighty- 

jd  Pacific 
,t  Roches- 
)n  to  the 
ibors  were 
li  \vc  shall 
and  devo- 

Wyatt,  fol- 
3ored  here, 
the  Rev.  J. 
cting-honse, 
But  during 
e  of  a  cler- 
n'ised  in  the 
scanty  con- 
hd  Locliport 
,t  Rochester 
iither  Simon 
Redeemer, 
in  AVestern 
fie,  and  been 
lOve  flourish- 
Fathers  are 

the  diocese 

lo-  possession 

litted  to  his 


care,  three  churches  in  Buffalo,  four  in  Rochester,  and  churches 
or  stations  in  every  county.  Rochester  also  possessed  an  orphan 
asylum,  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Jo- 
seph, founded  in  1845,  and  an  academy,  conducted  by  the  same 
Sisters. 

Bishop  Timon  began  his  administration  like  a  veteran  mis- 
sionary. On  the  21st  of  November,  1847,  less  than  a  month 
after  his  arrival,  he  consecrated  the  Church  of  St.  Louis,  and 
confirmed  over  two  hundred  persons.  He  then  proceeded  to 
Rochester,  where  he  gave  a  retreat,  preaching  three  times  a  day, 
and  making  two  meditations  for  the  people,  spending  the  rest  of 
his  time  in  the  confessional.  The  next  month  he  gave  retreats 
in  Java  and  Buffalo ;  in  January,  at  Lockport.  Besides  these 
labors,  he  preached,  instructed,  and  gave  confirmation  at  Attica, 
Geneva,  Ithaca,  Elmira,  and  Scio,  besides  visiting  the  prisoners 
at  Auburn,  where,  of  over  four  hundred,  he  found  only  twenty- 
eight  Catholics.* 

One  of  his  earliest  plans  was  the  foundation  of  a  college ;  and 
in  1848  the  Rev.  Julian  Delauno,  late  President  of  St.  Mary's 
College,  Kentucky,  opened,  under  the  auspices  of  the  bishop,  the 
College  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Rochester;  but  it  met  with  difficul- 
ties, and  closed  in  1852.  Another  institution,  St.  Joseph's  Col- 
lege at  Buffalo,  was  opened  in  1849,  and  conducted  for  a  time 
by  secular  priests  and  the  seminarians  of  the  diocese ;  but  this 
being  found  a  plan  attended  with  much  difficulty,  the  college 
was,  in  the  year  1851,  committed  to  the  care  of  the  Oblate 
Fathers.  Those  Fathers  conducted  it  until  the  year  1855,  when 
it  was  found  necessary  to  suspend  it,  to  the  great  regret  of  the 
bishop. 

The  foundation  of  a  hospital  at  Buftalo  was  attended  with 
happier  results.     It  was  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of 


Iter 


of  Eev.  P. 


*  Annalos  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xxi.  31. 


486 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


!:'! 


II     I;'  i¥4 


Charity,  who  won  the  admiration  and  confidence  of  the  commu- 
nity ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  a  Protestant  clergyman  by  the 
name  of  Lord  thought  that  his  creed  was  in  danger,  and  by 
anonymous  communications  in  the  papers,  or  articles  over  vari- 
ous letters  of  the  alphabet,  endeavored  to  create  prejudice 
against  the  hospital,  and  excite  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  The  Very  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly  came  out  in 
reply,  and  forced  Mr.  Lord  to  throw  off  the  mask.  A  long  con- 
troversy ensued,  in  which  the  endeavors  of  Mr.  Lord  to  escape 
rather  justly  prejudiced  all  honest  men  against  himself.*  In- 
stead of  injuring  the  hospital,  this  attack  added  to  its  popularity. 
Up  to  December,  1851,  twenty-four  hundred  persons  were  re- 
ceived into  the  hospital,  most  of  whom,  but  for  the  care  thus 
afforded  them,  would  have  sunk  to  their  graves.  A  medical 
journal,  edited  by  a  Protestant  physician,  said,  "  The  fact  that 
the  services  of  these  intelligent,  educated,  and  pious  Sisters  are 
bestowed  without  compensation,  contributes  greatly  to  the  econ- 
omy of  the  institution  ;  but  apart  from  this,  the  same  capabili- 
ties and  fidelity  could  not  be  purchased  by  any  pecuniary  con- 
siderations. No  salary,  however  great,  could  afford  a  substitute 
for  motives  derived  from  the  religious  obligations  which  urge 
those  devoted  females  to  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  oflBces  of 
charity."f 

The  exertions  of  the  bishop  in  the  cause  of  education  were 
not  confined  to  the  colleges :  he  sought  to  endow  his  diocese 
with  a  house  of  religious  women  devoted  to  the  highest  order  of 
teaching,  and  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  were  able  and  willing  to  aid  him.  A  colony,  accordingly, 
came  from  Manhattanville  in  1849,  and  founded  a  convent  of 


*  Discussion  relative  to  the  Buffalo  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
between  the  Kev.  John  C.  Lord  and  the  Very  Eev.  B,  O'Keilly,  72  pp.  Buf- 
falo, 1850. 

+  See  Second  General  Eeport  of  the  Buffalo  Hospital,  Buffalo,  1852. 


;  11 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


487 


their  order  in  Buffalo,  which  was  in  1855  transferred  to  Roches- 
ter, as  a  more  central  point  for  their  academy. 

Besides  these  institutions,  the  untiring  bishop  established  a  found- 
ling hospital  and  asylum  for  widows,  and  has  within  the  last  year 
introduced  the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity,  a  colony  of  the 
original  order,  as  founded  by  Father  Eudes,  in  1645.  They  have 
not  yet  been  enabled  to  open  a  penitent  asylum,  and  are  labor- 
ing under  great  difficulties ;  but  the  devoted  pastor  will  overcome 
all  obstacles  to  his  good  works.  The  Sisters  who  founded  this 
convent,  the  first  of  their  order  in  the  United  States,  were  Sister 
Mary  de  St.  Jerome  Tourneny,  as  Superior,  Sisters  Mary  de  St. 
Etienne  Vardey  and  Sister  Mary  de  St.  Cyr  Corbin,  with  the  lay- 
Sister  Mary  of  St.  Martin :  they  were  a  filiation  from  the  con- 
vent of  Rennes,  and  arrived  in  Buffalo  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1855. 

These  are  not  the  only  accessions  within  the  last  year :  the 
Brothers  of  the  Holy  Infancy  of  Jesus  have  been  introduced  to 
direct  the  boys'  orphan  asylum ;  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Bridget, 
an  order  founded  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  in  Ireland, 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Lanigan,  in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Patroness 
of  the  island,  now  devote  themselves  to  the  instruction  of  poor 
girls  at  Buffalo  and  Rochester. 

The  impulse  given  by  the  good  bishop  was  felt  in  other  parts 
of  the  diocese,  and  the  zealous  pastor  of  Canandaigua,  the  Rev. 
E.  O'Connor,  whom  we  find  laboring  in  the  diocese  in  1848, 
and  at  Canandaigua  since  1851,  resolved,  after  erecting  chapels 
at  the  most  important  points  around  him,*  to  give  his  parish 
such  establishments  of  mercy  as  would  perpetuate  the  faith. 
The  religious  order  to  which  he  applied  was  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph,  who  had  a  house  at  St.  Louis  and  in  other  cities  of  thd 
Union.     Of  the  origin  of  this  order  we  have  given  an  account 


*  Bloomfield  aad  Lusbville. 


1^  1 


j;  ,Hi 


!,     Sii 


I     "i;    IB 


-  11 


488 


THE    CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


when  speaking  of  the  diocese  of  Philiidelphia,  and  need  not  re- 
peat it  here.  On  the  8th  of  Deceinbor,  1854,  the  very  day  when 
all  the  Christian  world  exulted,  by  its  representative  bishops  at 
Home,  on  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception by  his  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX.,  a  colony  of  the  Sisterg 
of  St.  Joseph  arrived  at  Canandaigua  from  St.  Louis.  Mother 
Agnes,  the  Superior,  had  as  companions  Sisters  Frances,  Joseph, 
Theodosia,  and  Petronilla,  followed  by  two  others  from  St.  Louis 
and  one  from  Philadelphia.  Devoting  themselves  to  the  various 
good  Avorks  contemplated  by  their  rule,  they  opened  an  acade- 
my, which  is  numerously  attended,  and  enables  the  Sistera  to  un- 
dertake other  works  of  mercy.  Besides  an  orphan  asylum,  they 
have  a  Home  for  poor  girls  of  good  character,  when  out  of  place, 
or  overtaken  by  sickness.  This  latter  object,  peculiar  to  this 
Home,  is  the  more  essential,  as,  from  the  absence  of  a  hospital, 
the  poor  girl  had  previously  no  .alternative  but  the  poorhouse. 

As  the  Sisters  have  opened  a  novitiate,  and  already  had  postu- 
lants, there  is  every  prospect  that  the  order  is  firmly  planted  at 
Canandaigua.* 

While  this  order  was  thus  diffusing  the  odor  of  sanctity 
around  Canandaigua,  the  western  part  of  New  York  beheld  the 
Eecollects  once  more  return  to  the  scene  of  their  early  labors. 
Nicholas  Devercux,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  owned  a  large  tract  in  Alle- 
ghany and  Cattaraugus  counties,  to  which  he  had  endeavored  to 
draw  Catholic  settlers,  facilitating  in  every  way  the  erection  of 
churches  and  establishing  of  missions.  But  the  progress  of 
Catholicity  did  not  correspond  to  his  zealous  wishes,  and  hav- 
ing visited  Rome  in  1854,  applied  to  the  Irish  College  of  St. 
Isidore  for  Fathers  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis  to  found  a  mis- 
sion in  New  York,  offering  five  thousand  dollars  and  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  for  the  new  convent.     He  wished  seven  Fathers  in 

*  Letter  of  Rev.  E.  O'Connor.     Notice  in  the  Buffalo  Sentinel. 


IN   THE  UNITED  STATES. 


489 


d  not  re- 
lay when 
is  hops  at 
hite  Con- 
lie  Sisters 
Mother 
9,  .Joseph, 
St.  Louis 
le  various 
m  acade- 
ere  to  un- 
liim,  they 
t  of  phice, 
ir  to  this 

hospital, 
house, 
ad  postu- 

anted  at 

sanctity 

iheld  the 

ly  labors. 

;  in  Alle- 

vored  to 

ction  of 

ress    of 

nd  hav- 

e  of  St. 

a  inis- 

iundred 

1th ers  in 


order  to  begin  the  mission,  but  as  there  were  not  so  many  able 
to  s])eak  Englisli  who  could  be  sent,  it  was  resolved  to  defer  the 
intended  colony  for  two  years.  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  Buf- 
falo was,  however,  in  Rome,  and,  from  his  zeal,  objected  to  any 
such  delay.  On  this,  some  of  the  Fathers  so  earnestly  besought 
the  General  of  the  order  for  permission  to  go  and  restore  the 
Franciscan  order  in  that  part  of  the  world,  where  their  own 
brethren'  had  been  the  first  apostles,  that  he  consented,  and  the 
Fathers  received  all  due  faculties. 

Of  this  new  colony  of  Recollects,  Father  Pamphilus  de  Mag- 
liano  is  the  Gustos,  or  Superior,  having  under  him  Father 
Sixtus  de  Gagliano,  Father  Samuel  da  Prezza,  and  the  lay- 
brother,  Salvador  de  Manarola.  They  are  all  Recollects,  or 
Reformed  Franciscans,  of  the  same  family  as  the  early  missiona- 
ries of  Canada,  and  the  chaplains  whom  we  have  had  occasion 
to  mention.* 

Two  of  the  Fathers  were  professors  of  theology  at  or  near 
Rome,  the  Superior  at  the  Irish  College,  Father  Sixtus  at  the 
convent  of  St.  Bernardine,  at  U rbino ;  Father  Samuel  was  at  the 
.  College  San  Pietro  Montorio,  in  Rome,  having  just  completed  his 
studies.  Father  Pamphilus  and  Father  Sixtus  had  long  nour- 
ished a  desire  of  devoting  themselves  to  the  foreign  missions,  and 
had  selected  the  United  States  as  their  chosen  field  of  hibor ;  so 
much  so,  that  a  few  days  before  Mr.  Devereux's  application,  they 
had  declined  an  invitation  to  proceed  to  Buenos  Ayres. 

With  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  authority  to  cstab- 
hsh  a  province  of  their  order,  they  left  Rome  on  the  9th  of 

*  The  Franciscans,  or  Friars  Minor,  comprise,  1st,  Tlie  Observantines,  tlie 
Recollects,  and  Alctilitarines,  who  number  about  ninety  thousand,  and  are 
subject  to  the  Minister-general  of  the  Order  of  Minors.  The  present  Gen- 
eral is  Father  Venantius  da  Celano,  a  Kocollect.  '2d,  Tiie  Capucins.  3d,  The 
Conventuals.  4th,  The  Tertiaries  :  the  last  three  having  each  a  General  of 
their  own.  The  Capueins  number  about  forty  thousand,  the  Conventuals 
seven  thousand,  aud  the  Tertiaries  a  number  almoil  uicalculuble. 

21* 


> 


I 

i 


i 

490 

THE  CATHOLIC 

CHURCH 

• 

';!                   May, 
ceode 

185 

6,  and  i 

•caching  New  Yo 

rk  on  the  19th  of  Juno, 

pro* 

d  to  Ellicottsville,  where  they 

began  their  labors. 

A 

con- 

vent 

and 

college 

will  soon  arise  in  Allegany 

City,  who 

nco 

the 

I!  I ' 


Fathers  will  minister  to  the  Catholics  in  all  the  adjoining  coun- 
try.* Already  have  their  labors  been  fruitful :  everywhere,  in- 
deed, have  the  good  Fathers  of  St.  Francis,  as  humble  and  gentle 
as  their  martyred  brother.  Father  Zenobe  Membro,  or  the  aged 
Gabriel  de  la  Ribourdc,  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of  all. 
As  their  numbers  increase,  Canada  will  doubtless  too  claim  a 
house  of  the  order  of  her  sainted  Caron.f 

Only  one  difficulty  troubled  the  administration  of  Bishop 
Timon,  and  this  arose  in  the  Church  of  St.  Louis.  The  ground 
for  that  church  had  been  deeded  to  Bishop  Dubois,  at  the  time 
of  his  visit  to  Buffalo  in  1820,  by  Louis  Le  Couteulx,  Esq.  Grad- 
ually the  church  had  been  erected,  and  a  body  of  trustees  or- 
ganized, under  the  general  law  of  the  State.  To  them  the 
administration  of  the  church  was  transferred,  the  bishop  having 
full  confidence  in  their  integrity  as  men,  and  fidelity  tis  Catholics. 
This  hope  was,  however,  delusive  :  ere  long  they  began  to  usurp 
powers  not  their  own ;  and  on  the  issuing  of  the  pastoral  letter 
of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  after  the  Diocesan  Synod  in 
1842,  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis's  Church  peremptorily  refused  to 
submit  to  the  regulations  contained  in  it.  These  regulations  re- 
quired every  church  to  act  under  its  pastor,  subject  to  the  ulti- 
mate decision  of  the  ordinary  in  the  appointment  of  teachers, 
sexton,  organists,  choir,  and  other  persons  employed  in  the  house 
of  God.  It  also  subjected  the  expenditures  of  the  church  funds 
to  the  supervision  of  the  pastor  and  bishop,  and  required  the  ac- 
counts to  be  open  to  th(;ir  inspection.  By  the  terms  of  the  pas- 
toral, any  church  refusing  to  submit  to  these  regulations  within 


*  Letter  of  Father  Magliano. 

t  See  History  of  the  Catholic  Misaions. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


491 


six  months,  was  to  be  deprived  of  a  pastor.  The  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  notwithstanding  the  refusal  of  the  trustees,  was  not  de- 
prived by  the  bishop  of  its  pastor,  but  the  trustees  and  their 
adherents  compelled  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pax  to  quit  his  post  and  leave 
the  country.* 

The  bishop  declined  to  put  another  clergyman  at  their  mercy, 
but  sent  two  priests,  who  erected  a  new  church,  leaving  that  of 
St.  Louis  closed.  On  the  next  visitation  of  his  diocese  by  Bishop 
Hughes,  he  received  the  voluntary  submission  of  the  schismatic 
trustees,  who  agreed  to  observe  the  regulations  of  the  pastoral. 
A  priest  was  again  placed  there,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Timon  consecrated  the  church  soon  after  his  arrival, 
on  being  informed  that  the  title  of  the  church  was  in  the  bishop. 
The  trustees,  however,  soon  resumed  their  usurpation,  and  the 
pastor  publicly  insulted,  menaced,  and  ordered  by  a  daring  mi- 
nority to  quit,  withdrew,  bearing  with  him  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. A  new  church  was  begun  for  the  faithful  part  of  the  con- 
gregation, as  before.f 

The  trustees  still  maintained  their  opposition,  however,  and 
appealed  to  the  Holy  See.  As  the  Supreme  PontiflF  was  just 
about  to  send  to  this  country,  for  the  first  time,  a  Nuncio,  in  the 
person  of  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  the  Most  Reverend  Cajetan 
Bedini,  he  confided  to  him,  among  other  things,  the  considera- 
tion of  the  case.  In  a  long  and  able  letter,  that  eminent  prelate, 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1853,  discussed  the  whole  question,  and 
showed  them  that  the  canons  of  the  Church  were  imperative, 
and  that  the  charter  under  which  they  claimed,  being  merely 
permissive,  must  be  construed  so  as  not  to  conflict  with  theiif 
duty  as  Catholics.  "  The  privilege  which  the  civil  law  grants  W 
permissive ;  you  may  use  it,  or  not.  It  is  your  duty  to  consult 
the  principles  of  your  faith,  to  ascertain  when  and  how  you 


*  Brooksiana,  p.  68. 


t  Reply  to  Mr.  Babcook'a  Speech,  p.  5. 


402 


THE  CATUOLIC  CHUIICH 


I  ', 


I'  vm 


f:  , '.  ll 


i  i  11 : 


ouglit  to  use  it."*'  Having  shown  thorn  that  (ho  mimiigcnioiit  of 
tlio  pious  oll't-riiigH  hohdiyvd  to  tho  hisliop,  .»i»  thoy  wore  ?nado 
for  tho  support  ot'diviiio  worship,  whicli  clorgyrrn  n  appoinlocl  hy 
him  aloiio  <;ould  porfortii,  ho  urgod  thom  to  coinply  with  the 
wishes  of  their  prohito  ;  but  thoy  obstiiiat-ly  rofusod,  rojcctitig 
the  decision  of  tlic  very  tribuntil  to  which  thoy  appoahjd. 

Tho  good  bishop  did  not  despair,  and  tho  Kov.  Father  Frnwcis 
X.  Woniiiger,  a  distinguislied  Jesuit  missionary,  luivinnf  "'I'tired 
to  preach  a  retreat  tliere,  the  bishop  cheerfully  coiistuted,  ai.'' 
the  erring  men  at  last  yielded,  and  once  more  enabi'  i  •'  o  Holy 
pacritico  to  be  oft'ered  in  the  church. 

The  diocese  of  Buffalo,  so  poorly  provitlcd  witli  uiissionarii-s 
when  the  untiring  bishop  was  promoted  to  th*;  See,  so  destitute 
of  those  institutions  of  charity  and  education  needed  above  ail  in 
a  country  where  education  and  benevolence  are  a  mask  for  pros- 
elytizing error,  is  now  one  of  tho  most  richly  endowed  in  tho 
country.  It  contains  one  hundred  and  twoiity  churches  and 
chapels,  a  huilied  other  stations,  seventy-eight  priests,  inclu- 
ding, besides  ihe  secular  clergy,  Jesuits,  Uedemptorists,  Oblates, 
and  Franciscans,  a  theological  seminary,  five  orphan  asylums,  a 
Home  for  the  innocent,  a  Refuge  for  tlio  penitent,  a  hospital  for 
the  sick,  and  schools  directed  by  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  St.  Bridget, 
Notre  Dame,  and  Charity. 

Brooklyn. — The  last  diocese  in  New  York  formed  by  tho 
Holy  See  is  that  of  Brooklyn,  comprising  the  whole  of  Long 
Island,  an  island  named  by  the  ^  ily  <"'atliolic  discoverers  the 
Isle  of  the  Hoh  Ypostles.  The  ef^stei '  ^  ■  'on  was  'ed  from 
New  England,  the  western  by  th.  '( 'i„jh  lU  early  times,  and  few 
Catholics  have  settled  there.  Brooklyn,  from  a  mere  suburb  of 
New  York,  has  grown  within  a  few  years  to  be  one  of  the  largest 


"•  Letter  of  the  Most  Kev.  Arclibishop  of  Thebes,  in  New  York  Freeman's 
Journal,  November  5,  1853. 


1^  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


403 


>nu!iit.  o? 
re  inndo 
inlotl  l»y 
,vith  tho 
lojecting 

I. 

r  Frniu'is 

g  c>ir<!re<.l 
iteci,  aii'l 
iliO  Holy 

ssionariL'S 
I  destituto 
»()vc  all  ill 
c  for  pros- 
ed in  tho 
relies  and 
sts,  inclu- 
5,  Oblates, 
isylums,  a 
)si>ital  for 
.  Bridget, 

|d  by  tlio 
of  Long 
fevers  tho 
'.ed  troui 
and  few 
Isuburb  of 
lie  largest 


Freeman's 


citicp  in  Ain»!ri*  a,  »iid  much  of  its  jN»j)ulation  coo«i»t«  of  i'atho- 
licH.  In  IH'J'J,  tlieru  was  ttot  f*  rutliulic  churrli  on  ihf  Islano. 
Tlii^  next  yu:ir,  St.  Jaine-Vs  t'liunli,  in  Juy-stroet,  was  t'^•(.•ted, 
luuK'r  the  auHjiices  of  Hisliop  Connolly  ;  and  htro,  in  Sept!*»uL'«MV 
1823,  on  a  \'v\\  boards  cliuiisil)  juit  lv)gL':lier  for  an  altar,  lik^ 
Ilev.  John  Slmnahan  said  his  Hrst  Nhtss.  'I'lu)  first  pcniiiMnc-nt 
j)astor  here  wa»  tho  K(!V.  .lulin  W'rtlsli,  wlio  may  bo  consid'  red 
tho  founder  of  the  mission,  luivinif  labored  here  canieKtly  "  »r 
many  years.  In  1837  the  Kev.  Mr.  BnidU'V  visited  Flu  '.iiiir  a>  ' 
Williamsbuig,  which,  with  Staten  Island,  formed  his  parisli. 
The  ne.vt  year,  Brooklyn  had  a  seccad  <hurch  ;  and  three  yesrn 
after,  the  Kev.  .lames  O'Donuell  ercc;.  d  St.  MaryV,  at  Williams- 
burg, ft  »mall  frame,  which  has  aineo  been  replaced  by  lh<' 
Church  of  St.  IVter  and  St.  ]*aui!,  thn  ugh  the  exertions  of  the 
Kev.  S.  !Malone  ;  and  the  zealous  Rev.  \lr.  Uatieim-r  reared  tho 
Churcdi  of  the  Holy  Trinity  for  his  (iernian  countrymen.  But 
even  these  churches  were  not  suiKcient.  In  the  following  year, 
the  Kev.  D.  W.  ]iacon,  \vhon»  wo  have  sen  on  the  nussi">n  at 
Utica,  and  wlio  now  fills  tho  See  of  I'ortlai  d,  purchased  a  biiild- 
ing  which  a  priest  had,  in  a  moment  of  in.-  ibordination,  erected 
as  an  Independent  Catholic  Church.  This,  dedicated  to  tho 
worship  of  God,  became  the  Church  of  tlit'  Assumption,  'ilio 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Kinmanuel  1  ecame  the  Church 
of  St.  Charles  Borronieo  about  the  time  tha'  Bishop  Ives,  wlu» 
had  there  ordained  the  Rev.  Donald  McLeod,  •ocame,  with  that 
gentleman,  a  submissive  child  of  tho  Catholic  (.  lurch. 

When  the  Holy  See  resolved  to  erect  Long  hland  into  a  dio- 
cese, it  called  to  the  episcopate,  as  Bishop  of  \\\<  oklyu,  the  Very 
Rev.  John  Loughlin,  for  many  years  Vicar-general  of  the  diocese 
of  New  York,  and  well  known  in  the  city  of  N*  w  York  for  his 
devoteduess  as  a  pastor  in  that  most  trying  of  :  11  missions,  an 
extensive  parish  in  a  crowded  city.  Educated  at  the  Seminary 
of  Mount  St,  Mary's,  he  had  been  exercising  the  holy  ministry 


494 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


J   f 


Ui    :        il-l 


mm 


in  New  York  from  1841.  He  was  consecrated  by  the  Most  Rev- 
erend Cajetan  Bedini,  Nuncio  of  His  Holiness,  at  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1853,  at  the  same  time  as 
the  Right  Rev.  James  R.  Bayley,  Bishop  of  Newark,  and  the 
Right  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  Bishop  of  Burlington.  The 
new  prelate  immediately  took  possession  of  his  diocese,  which 
then  contained,  in  Brooklyn  and  Williamsburg  united,  ten  church- 
es, and  in  the  rest  of  the  island  eleven,  with  seven  stations,  the 
whole  attended  by  a  body  of  twenty-three  priests.  To  aid  them 
there  were  two  orphan  asylums,  one  directed  b}'  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  who  had  been  laboring  in  Brooklyn  from  1836,  having 
charge  both  of  the  asylum  and  the  free-schools  for  girls.  The 
Christian  Brothers  had,  however,  within  a  year  or  two  assumed 
the  direction  of  the  free-school  at  St.  James's  Church. 

The  bishop  zealously  applied  himself  to  afford  his  flock  the 
advantages  for  education  and  aid  which  their  condition  required. 
He  purchased  a  house  for  a  colony  of  Dominican  nuns,  which  the 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  Raffeiner  had  previously  procured  from  Bavaria. 
In  September,  1855,  the  prelate  also  obtained  some  Visitation 
nuns  of  the  house  at  Baltimore.  These  then  founded,  with 
Mother  Juliana  Mathews  as  Superior,  the  first  monastery  in  N(nv 
York  of  the  order  planted  in  America  by  the  venerable  Alice 
Lalor.  Their  academy  is  already  in  a  prosperous  condition,  and 
will  supply  a  want  which  Brooklyn  has  long  felt. 

The  good  bishop  was  no  less  successful  in  his  appeal  to  the  Sis- 
teis  of  Mercy  at  New  York,  who  in  the  same  year,  under  Mother 
Vince'^*  Hciire,  founded  the  convent  of  St.  Francis  Assisium,  and 
having  obtained  a  delightful  house  for  the  purpose,  now  devote 
themselves  to  all  the  works  which  their  rule  contemplates. 

Newark. — The  State  of  New  Jersey,  forming  the  diocese  of 
Newark,  had  been  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Right  Rev.  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  born  at  New  York ;  and  though  a  nephew,  on 
his  fatlier's  side,  of  the  venerable  Mother  Seton,  and  even  con- 


Eev- 

■ick's 
le  as 
I  the 

The 
vhich 
lui'ch- 
is,  the 

them 

Lers  of 

aavhig 

The 

asumed 

ock  the 
jquired. 
ich  the 
kivaviii. 
sitation 
},   with 

0  Alieo 
lou,  aud 

Ithe  Sis- 
iMothcr 
|im,  aud 
devote 

icese  of 

James 

[lew,  on 

ju  con- 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


495 


nected  with  the  family  of  Dongan,  Earl  of  Limerick,  the  Catho- 
lic governor  of  Ne^\  York,  he  was  born  and  brought  iip  in  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  resolved  to  enter  the  ministry  as  an 
Episcopalian  clergyman.  He  was  stationed  for  some  years  at 
Harlem,  where  he  witnessed  the  faith  and  piety  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  laborers,  who  ever  found  in  him  a  kind  and  generous 
friend.  Early  led  to  doubt  the  propriety  of  the  Reformation,  he 
proceeded  to  Rome,  and  there,  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  em- 
bracing the  one  true  faith,  he  renounced  error  with  a  generous 
spirit  of  sacrifice,  conscious  that  the  step  would  deprive  him  of 
the  accumulated  wealth  which  an  uncle  reserved  for  his  favorite 
nephew.  Proceeding  to  Paris,  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  after  his  course  of  studies,  was  ordained  at  New 
York,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1844.  He  was  subsequently  Vice- 
president  and  President  of  St.  John's  College,  Pastor  of  Staten 
Island,  and  then  secretary  to  the  archbishop,  an  office  which 
he  filled  down  to  the  time  of  his  consecration  to  the  See  of 
Newark. 

His  jurisdiction  extends  to  the  whole  State  of  New  Jersey, 
previously  subject  partly  the  See  of  Philadelphia,  and  partly  to 
that  of  New  York.  Of  the  rise  of  Catholicity  in  the  State,  it 
becomes  us  here  to  say  a  few  words.  The  first  Catholic  priest  who  ». 
is  known  to  have  visited  New  Jersey  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harding, 
whose  labors  could  not  have  been  prior  to  1762  ;  but  of  the 
time  and  place  we  have  no  details.  The  chief  Catholic  congre- 
gation was  at  Macoupin,  settled  by  a  colony  of  Germans  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Cologne,  who  were  brought  over  to  conduct  the 
iron- works  begun  in  New  Jersey,  a  little  over  a  century  ago. 
Two  of  the  families  settled  at  Macoupin,  Marion  and  Schulster, 
were  pious  Catholics,  from  Baden ;  and  their  descendants,  to  this 
day,  have  preserved  the  faith  and  devotion  of  their  ancestors, 
gaining  even  the  children  of  Protestant  fellow-emigrants,  so  as  to 
form  a  Catholic  colony  remarkable  for  its  fervent  piety.     A.  Rev. 


'■,' 


;^iiipillllii 


iH;  'i «'  i 


496 


THE  CATUOLIC  CHURCH 


1   ii 


I     OTsi 


!    ■     (    'm 


I!    •     k  Iti' 
1.1 


Mr.  Laiigrey,  an  Irisli  priest,  is  said  to  have  been  tlic  first  to  visit 
them ;  but  the  venerable  Father  Ferdinand  Farmer,  distinguished 
in  Europe  as  an  astronomer  and  philosopher,  and  even  honored 
as  such  here,*  but  known  to  Catholics  by  his  devoted  labors  as 
an  humble  missionary,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  visit  New 
Jersey  regularly.  In  his  baptismal  register,  cited  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, we  find  him  officiating  at  Geiger's  in  1759,  Charlottenbui'g 
in  17G9,  in  Morris  county,  at  Long  Pond,  and  Mount  Hope,  near 
Macoupin,  in  1776.  .  Indeed,  he  is  said  to  have  visited  Macoupin 
twice  a  year  for  a  considerable  period.  The  lievolution,  which 
made  New  Jersey  the  battle-field  between  the  contending  armies, 
interrupted  his  visits,  and  we  do  not  find  him  reappearing  till 
1785,  in  Sussex  county,  llingwood  and  Hunterdon. 

Other  priests  also  visited  the  scattered  Catholics,  and  among 
these  are  mentioned  the  Rev.  Mr.  Malenx,  Rev.  Mr.  Katen,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Krcsgel ;  the  last  named  a  German  piiest,  who  was  at 
Macoupin  in  l775.f 

Except,  however,  the  Catholics  at  Macoupin,  no  traces  now  re- 
main of  those  scattered  through  the  State,  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  schoolmaster  at  Mount  Holly  in  l7G2  was  an  Irish 
Catholic,  Thomas  McCurtain,  a  nephew  of  the  Gaelic  scholar; 
but  he  removed  to  Philadelphia  after  the  war,  in  order  to  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  religion.;];  Others,  doubtless,  did  the  same, 
and  swelled  the  congregations  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  a  number  of  French  families 
from  St.  Domingo  and  other  parts  of  the  West  Indies  settled  in 
New  Jersey,  at  various  points.     And  in  1806,  we  find  the  Rev. 

*  lie  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  University,  and  a  member  of  the  Pliil- 
osophical  Society.     U.  S.  Ciitliolic  Mag:azinc,  iv.  2r)7. 

t  Campbell,  Life  nnd  Times  of  Arclibishop  Carroll,  in  U.  S.  Catholic 
Magazine,  vi.  434.  N.  Y.  Freeman's  Journal,  1847.  Bisliop  Bayley,  Brief 
Sketch,  p.  97. 

X  His  wife  was  a  convert,  and  the  writer  feels  pride  in  saying  that  not  on« 
of  his  descendants  haa  ever  fallen  from,  the  Church. — J.  (a.  S. 


to  visit 
ruished 
lonoved 
ibors  as 
jit  New 
.  Camp- 
tteiiburg 
Dpe,  near 
Jacoupiti 
,n^  wliicli 
2  armies, 
■aving  till 

id  among 
iaten,  and 
lio  was  at 

es  now  re- 
le  Rcvolu- 

is  an  Ii'is^i 
c  scholar-, 
V  to  enjoy 
the  same, 
tv  York, 
h  families 
settled  in 
the  Kev. 

of  the  PWl- 

S.  Catholic 
;iiyley,  Brief 

Itluit  not  0119 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


497 


Mr.  Tisscraut  living  at  Elizabetlitown  with  a  colony  of  them.* 
Ho  was  there,  however,  only  a  visitor,  which  was  the  more  to  bo 
regi'ctted,  as  IMshop  Choverus,  in  locomuiending  Mrs.  Seton  to 
apply  to  him,  styles  Mr.  Tisseraut  a  most  amiable  and  respectable 
man,  equally  conspicuous  for  his  learning  and  piety. 

After  New  York  had  the  consolation  of  possessing  a  bishop, 
the  Rev.  Richard  Bulger,  who  was  ordained  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Connolly  in  1820,  was  stationed  at  Paterson,  and  during  his 
short  career  devoted  himself  with  great  fidelity  to  the  care  of  the 
Catholics  scattered  amid  a  most  bigoted  population.  In  the 
course  of  his  ministry,  the  Rev.  Mr.  liulgcr  was  often  exposed  to 
insult  and  hardship,  which  he  bore  Avith  patience  and  cheerful- 
ness, often  laughingly  recounting  his  own  mishaps.  Nor  was  his 
patience  denied  its  fruit.  The  present  Bishop  of  Newark  relates 
the  following  instance  in  which  a  conversion  repaid  humiliation, 
and  edifying  patience  was  a  lesson  of  truth  : 

"Trudging  along  one  day  on  foot,  carrying  a  bundle  contain- 
ing his  vestments  and  breviary  under  his  arm,  he  was  overtaken 
by  a  farmer  and  his  wife  in  a  wagon.  The  farmer  invited  Mr. 
Bulger  to  ride  ;  but  it  having  come  out,  in  the  course  of  his  con- 
versation, that  he  was  a  priest,  the  wife  declared  that  he  should 
not  remain  in  the  wagon,  and  he  was  consequently  obliged  to  get 
out,  and  resume  his  journey  on  foot.  But  the  farmer  afterwards 
a])plied  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bulger  for  instruction,  and  was  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church."f 

The  Church  of  Paterson  is  mentioned  in  the  Almanac  of 
1822  as  the  only  church  in  the  State,  Mr.  Bulger  being  the  pas- 
tor. J  His  zealous  career  was,  however,  terminated  by  a  prema- 
ture death  at  New  York  in  November,  1824. 

As  part  of  the  State  was  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  I'hiladel- 


*  Bishop  Baylcy,  Brief  Sketch,  p.  51.     Sec  White's  Life  of  Motlicr  Seton, 
p.  171. 
+  Bp.  Bayley,  Brief  Sketch,  p.  75.         }  Laity  Directory  for  1822,  p.  105. 


\k' 


^M 


498 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I  ■'' 


p.\ 


.m: 


pliia,  we  find  soon  after  clergymen  visiting  that  portion,  and 
establishing  stations  at  Pleasant  Mills  and  Trenton,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  visited  till  the  diocese  of  Newark  was  erected. 

Newark  had  a  pastor,  about  1830,  in  the  Rev.  Gregory  B. 
Pardow,  a  native  of  New  York,  whom  we  find,  in  1834,  the  only 
priest  actually  residing  in  New  Jersey.  The  next  year,  how- 
ever, he  was  succeeded  by  the  Very  Rev.  P.  Moran,  who  has  for 
more  than  twenty  years  labored  on  that  mission,  and  contributed 
most  essentially  to  the  progress  of  Catholicity,  as  did  the  Rev. 
Louis  Senez,  the  Newark  Oi'phan  Asylum  being  due  to  the  zeal 
of  the  latter. 

Madison,  Jersey  City,  New  Brunswick,  and  Paterson  next  had 
resident  pastors;  and  in  1841,  the  devoted  Rev.  John  Raffeiner 
raised  a  German  church  at  Macoupin,  the  more  than  centenarian 
son  of  Mr.  Marion  assisting  at  the  ceremony.  Two  years  later, 
a  German  church  also  rose  at  Newark,  directed  by  the  Rev.  N. 
Balleis. 

On  assuming  the  direction  of  this  diocese,  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  found  in  the  State  thirty-three  churches  and  thirty  cler- 
gymen, with  an  orphan  asylum  at  Newark,  containing  fifty-one 
children,  guided  by  five  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  parish  schools 
attached  to  many  of  the  churches.  Dui'ing  the  short  period  of 
his  incumbency,  he  has  erected  a  fine  cathedral,  founded  a  sec- 
ond Orphan  Asylum  at  Paterson,  and  is  about  to  open  at  Mad- 
ison, Seton  Hall  College,  an  institution  which  will  doubtless  soon 
rank  with  the  older  Catholic  colleges  of  the  Union. 


ifpilr 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


499 


n,  and 
jh  con- 


rrory  B. 
he  only 
r,  how- 
I  has  for 
tributed 
he  Rev. 
the  zeal 

lext  had 
Raffeiner 
Qtenarian 
ars  later, 
e  Kev.  N. 

ght  Rev. 

irty  cler- 
fifty-one 
schools 
period  of 
.ed  a  sec- 
at  Mad- 
iless  soon 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

1853,  1854. 

Mission  of  the  Nuncio,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Bedinl— His  arrival— Plot  of  th« 
Italians— Their  slanders  — Eefutation— Death  of  Sassl— Reaction —"Violence  of  the 
Germans — Result  of  his  mission. 

While  the  Holy  See  was  examining  with  its  usual  maturity 
the  suggestions  of  the  Plenary  Council  held  in  Baltimore  in  1852, 
it  was  resolved  to  testify  its  interest  in  the  American  Church,  by 
sending  one  of  its  representatives  to  bear  the  Apostolic  benedic- 
tion to  the  United  States.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1852, 
the  Most  Rev.  Cajetan  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,*  Nuncio 
to  Brazil,  was  commissioned  to  visit  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  judge  of  the  state  of  Catholicity  in  that  vast  Republic;  and 
we  may  say,  that  such  a  mission,  the  first  confided  to  an  envoy 
of  the  Holy  See  in  the  American  confederacy,  has  inaugurated 
an  important  era,  of  which  the  future  will  develop  the  importance. 
This  mission  coincided  with  the  erection  often  new  episcopal  Sees ; 
and  marks  the  epoch  when  the  Church  in  the  United  States  be- 
held its  hierarchy  completed,  so  as  to  meet  the  progress  of  the 


*  The  Most  Eov.  Cajetan  Bedini  is  a  native  of  Senegairlia,  and  was  for 
years  secretary  of  the  Prince,  now  Cardinal  Altieri,  Nuncio  at  the  Court  of 
Vienna.  From  the  ability  displayed  by  the  Abate  Bedini  here,  he  was  sent 
as  Internuncio  to  Eio  Janeiro,  where  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  diploma- 
tist, and  especially  for  his  noble  stand  in  favor  of  some  German  immigrants, 
whose  wrongs  found  an  ardent  sympathizer  in  the  Papal  envoy.  On  hia 
return  to  Italy,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  government  of  Bologna  and  the 
four  legations,  during  the  most  troubled  times.  His  ability  here  induced 
the  Hoiy  Father  to  raise  him  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  as  Archbiahop  of 
Thebes,  and  appoint  him  Nuncio  to  Brazil. 


iii.'  I' 


■  J. 


n 


500 


TUE  CATilOLlO  CHUKCH 


faith  and  tlie  incessant  increase  of  the  faitliful.  Religion  in  tlio 
United  States  has  had  three  distinct  periods  :  tlie  first  began  with 
the  missions  of  the  Jesnits  of  Maiyland  and  New  Fi'ance,  wlietlier 
among  the  Indians  of  the  Chesapeake,  of  Maine,  New  York,  Il- 
linois, and  Michigan,  or  among  the  Eiux)pean  Catliolics  of  Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania,  and  the  West.  The  second  period,  dating 
from  1790,  beholds  the  Holy  See  giving  a  centre  to  all  these 
scattered  missions,  by  the  erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at  Balti- 
more. Some  years  later,  the  United  States  became  an  ecclesias- 
tical province,  and  in  1808,  on  the  eve  of  being  torn  from  Rome 
and  dragged  into  captivity,  Pius  VII.,  extending  his  pastoral  solici- 
tude to  America,  founded  the  dioceses  of  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Bardstown.  These  new  Sees  had  multiplied 
in  1853  to  the  number  of  forty-one,  forming  seven  ecclesiastical 
■provinces ;  and  with  this  expansion  of  the  episcopate  begins  the 
third  period — that  in  which  the  Holy  Father  chose  to  be  repre- 
sented directly,  or  at  least  temporarily,  amid  a  flourishing  Church, 
in  order  to  make  America  better  known  at  Rome,  and  also  to 
make  Rome  better  known  in  America. 

The  mission  of  Archbishop  Bedini  was,  as  we  say,  essentially 
temporary.  Was  it  desirable  for  the  good  of  religion  that  it 
should  be  followed  by  the  establishment  of  a  nunciature,  or  per- 
}nanent  legation,  either  at  Washington  or  New  York  ?  We 
think  so,  and  still  retain  the  hope  that  circumstances  will  permit 
this  at  a  day  by  no  means  remote.  The  presence  of  an  envoy  of 
the  Holy  See  in  the  United  States  Avould  facilitate  extremely  the 
relations  of  the  episcopate  and  religious  communities  with  Rome. 
For  the  foundation  of  new  Sees,  for  inquiries  as  to  bishops  pro- 
posed, for  dispensations,  the  examination  of  Provincial  Councils, 
a  solution  would  be  more  speedily  obtained  by  the  presence  and 
intervention  of  this  pontifical  envoy.  But  the  Pope,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  is  the  head  of  the  Universal  Church,  is  temporal 
sovereign  oi'  a  European  State ;  and  hence  his  representatives,  in- 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


;oi 


u  in  tho 
^au  with 
whether 
i^oik,  II- 
[)f  Mary- 
l1,  dating 
all  thest! 
at  BaUi- 
ecclesias- 
m\  Rome 
>ral  solici- 
ew  York, 
ntiuUiphed 
jlesiastical 
begins  the 
»  be  reprc- 
o;  Church, 
id  also  to 

essentially 
11  that  it 
re,  or  pcr- 
•k  ?      We 
ill  permit 
11  envoy  of 
emely  the 
ith  Rome. 
[ihops  pro- 
Councils, 
scnce  and 
the  same 
temporal 
atives,  in- 


trusted with  tlio  interests  of  the  Church,  are  also  accredited  as. 
ministers  to  the  governments  of  foreign  nations.  In  Europe, 
where  the  State  almost  universally  enters  into  the  sphere  of  re- 
ligious interests,  and  where  concordats  hetween  the  State  and 
tlie  Holy  See  regulate  the  relations  of  the  secular  and  ecclesias- 
tical powers,  such  a  union  of  functions  excites  no  surprise.  The 
United  States,  as  a  government,  is  expressly  debarred  from  in- 
terfering in  ecclesiastical  matters ;  by  the  very  words  of  the 
Constitution,  as  amended,  "  Congress  shall  pass  no  law  concern- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exer- 
cise thereof."  Here,  thercjfore,  the  State  can  never  enter  into 
any  negotiations  with  the  Holy  See  for  the  purpose  of  drawing 
up  a  concordat  as  the  base  of  its  harmonious  legislation  in  eccle- 
siastical matters.  In  the  political  point  of  view,  however,  there 
exists  nothing  to  prevent  the  Holy  See  from  having  its  repre- 
sentative at  Washington,  as  the  United  Stales  actually  has  a 
Minister  Resident  at  Rome.  The  frequent  visits  of  Americans 
to  Itah',  the  sometimes  prolonged  residence  there  of  prelates, 
clergymen,  students,  artists,  and  others,  and  even  the  emigration 
of  Italians  from  the  Papal  States  to  this  country,  all  justify  tlie 
residence  at  Washington  of  a  Nuncio  as  minister  or  charge  of 
His  Holiness. 

This  representative  may  or  may  not  be  the  depositary  of  pow- 
ers in  matters  ecclesiastical ;  but  this  is  a  matter  with  which  tho 
government  of  the  United  States  has,  and  can  have,  no  concern. 
If  the  resident  minister  at  Washington,  or  any  other,  is  invested 
with  the  powers  of  a  Nuncio  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  the  prin- 
ciple of  liberty  of  worship  would  pi'otoct  him  in  his  relations 
with  the  episcopate — relations  which  would  of  course  be  limited 
to  the  domain  of  religion. 

Catholics,  like  all  other  citizens  of  the  Un#ed  States,  have, 
by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  a  right  to  the  full  and  fair  en- 
joyment   of   their  religion,   and,  in  the    government    of  their 


602 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


4    \'  .-fe'-f  ;;' 


$h 


ih  :  t 


i 


Church,  to  such  arrangomcnts  and  dispoftitions  as  they  docm 
necessary.  No  American  will  deny  them  this  right,  or  take  um- 
brage at  it ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  agitations  caused  by  foreign  fa- 
natics, or  occasional  ebullitions  of  old  prejudice,  the  Americans, 
as  a  people,  have  never  shown  a  desire  to  molest  their  Catholic 
fellow-citizens  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion,  or  deprivo 
them  of  social  equality. 

Among  Catholics,  opinions  may  differ  as  to  wliether  the  epoch 
has  yet  come  when  the  residence  of  a  Nuncio  in  the  country  is 
called  for  by  the  wants  of  the  time,  or  whether  it  should  be  de- 
ferred for  a  season.  As  the  Holy  See  has  already  made  a  step 
towards  the  establishment  of  a  Nunciature,  we  have  expressed 
our  opinion,  or  rather  our  wish,  openly,  perfectly  aware  that  tho 
matter  rests  with  the  Holy  See,  and  that,  in  whatever  action 
shall  be  taken,  the  prelates  of  the  United  States  will  evince  not 
only  the  devoted  attachment  of  the  Bench  of  Bishops  to  the 
Chair  of  Peter,  but  the  no  less  cordial  attachment  of  the  clergy 
and  people  over  whom  they  preside ;  and  who,  divided  as  they 
may  be  from  each  other  by  origin,  language,  early  education, 
and  associations,  present  a  spectacle  almost  unparalleled  in  his- 
tory, of  union  among  themselves  in  religious  matters,  affectionate 
submission  to  their  pastors,  and  devotedness  to  the  Apostolic 
See.  There  is  an  instinct  of  self-preservation  in  the  Catholic  life 
which  makes  all  cleave  to  Rome  with  an  attachment  and  an 
ardor  as  strong  as  that  expressed  by  Fenelon  for  it  in  language 
borrowed  from  Scripture. 

Another  result  of  the  creation  of  which  we  are  examining  the 
advantages,  would  be  to  exalt  the  character  of  religion  not  only 
in  the  minds  of  Protestants,  but  even  in  the  eyes  of  Catholics 
whose  faith  has  been  weakened  by  unhappy  circumstances.  Till 
these  later  timen^  the  expansion  of  Catholicity  in  America  has 
encountered  an  obstacle  in  the  prejudice  which  viewed  it  as  the 
religion  of  the  servant  and  the  laborer.     The  Protestant  who 


■f  deem 
kc  um- 
ciffn  fa- 
cricatis, 
Catholic 
deprive 

,e  epoch 
luntry  is 
d  be  de- 
B  a  step 
xpressed 
that  tlio 
ir  action 
ince  not 
)S  to  the 
le  clergy 
as  they 
Jucation, 

in  his- 
[cctionate 

postolic 
Iholic  life 

and  an 
language 

Ining  the 
Inot  only 
Catholics 
3es.  Till 
Irica  has 
lit  as  the 
lant  vrho 


IN  THE    UNITED   Si..TE3. 


603 


felt  himself  drawn  to  us,  had  to  overcome  human  respect ;  and 
while  his  kindred  would  have  had  no  objection  to  his  changing 
from  sect  to  sect,  and  from  Methodist,  for  example,  become  a 
Baptist,  or  vice  versa,  they  become  indignant  when  one  of  them 
brought  humiliation  on  the  family  by  embracing  the  faith  of  the 
servant-girl  and  the  immigrant.  It  is  not  easy  to  foim  an  idea 
how  many  of  our  separated  brethren  have  been  retained  in  mis- 
belief by  such  wretched  considerations.  Travelling  in  Europe 
has  had  its  influence  in  converting,  often  been  the  primary  cause ; 
and  we  have  been  told  by  some,  that  had  they  remained  at 
home,  they  should  probably  have  found  in  self-love  an  obstacle 
to  the  light  of  faith  ;  while  in  the  Old  World,  seeing  the  reli- 
gion practised  by  the  highest  classes  of  society,  they  discovered 
that  they  could  be  Catholics  without  ceasing  to  be  gentlemen. 
But  a  whole  nation  never  goes  abroad,  or  becomes  tourists,  as  a 
path  to  the  truth.  We  must,  then,  go  to  it,  and  give  high  hu- 
man ideas  of  our  Faith,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  its  recep- 
tion. Now  the  presence  of  a  representative  of  the  Holy  See 
would,  it  seems  to  us,  prepare  the  way  for  &  fashionable  restora- 
tion of  Catholicity.  His  character  would  permit  him  to  mingle 
in  society,  or  have  receptions  in  his  salons.  Protestants  would 
there  meet  members  of  the  clergy,  whom  they  knew  only  by  cal- 
umny or  fanaticism.  Prejudices  would  disappear  in  this  inter- 
course ;  and  Americans  would  see  that  they  might,  without 
abasement,  embrace  a  religion  whose  head  delegated  such  emi- 
nent ambassadors.  Catholics,  on  their  side,  would  find  motives 
for  exalting  their  character ;  they  would  no  longer  think  of  apol- 
ogizing for  being  Catholics,  or  seeming  as  little  Catholic  as  pos- 
sible, for  fear  of  giving  their  Protestant  friends  a  low  idea  of 
their  intelligence  and  taste  ;  for  to  such  a  feeling  we  must,  it  is 
conceded,  ascribe  many  of  the  defections  which  occurred  in  past 
years. 

Moreover,  on  examining  the  eflforts  of  infidelity  to  thwart  the 


lU 


!' 


r>o4- 


TIIK   CATHOMC   ("IllliCir 


temporary  mission  of  AnliMslioj)  IJcdini,  we  li;i\c'  :i  Hun;  mcaiiH 
of  nppri'ciafiiiii;  its  impoitaiicc.  llfll  is  crafty  in  its  eiiterprisi'H, 
niid  Avlicn  it  accnmulatcs  falsehood,  calimmy,  and  violence,  to 
defeat  an  undcrtakini;-,  we  may  he  certain  that  it  dreads  to  s<.'0 
Hoiils  wrested  from  its  emjiire.  IJefore  dispatching  the  Arch- 
bishop of  'I'hehes  on  his  mission,  the  (^onrt  of  Jiome,  with  its 
usual  prudence,  had  t.ikeu  the  precaution  of  soundiiij^  Mr.  Lewis 
Cass,  the  C'harf]j6  d'AlVaires  of  the  United  States  ivt  the  Holy 
See.  The  oflicial  reply  was,  that  the  govoniment  at  Washin<fton 
would  heliold  with  ple.asurt3  tlie  mission  of  Archbishop  Uedini, 
and,  in  consecpieiice,  that  prelate  set  out  for  New  York.  His 
arrival  at  fii'st  ijavo  no  umbraw  to  the  American  l^rotestants. 
After  a  short  stay  at  New  York,  Baltimore,  and  riiiladi'lphia, 
the  Apostolic  envoy,  accompanied  by  the  Most  Jiev.  Archbishop 
Hui^hes,  proceeded  as  far  west  as  Milwaukie,  studyin<^  with  tho 
bishops  the  state  of  religion  in  tliesc  dioceses,  visiting  the  con- 
vents and  colleges,  and  charming  all  who  approached  him  by  his 
lofty  views,  distinguislied  niav'iers,  and  courteous  address.  At 
AVashington,  he  presented  to  i'rcsident  Pierce  the  following  au- 
tograph letter  of  His  Holiness  : 

"Illustrious  and  iionoued  Sih,  Greeting  : 

"  As  our  venerable  brother,  the  Arclibishop  of  Thebes,  accred- 
ited as  our  envoy  in  ordinary,  and  Nuncio  of  the  Apostolic  See 
near  the  Imperial  Court  of  l^razil,  has  been  directed  by  us  to 
visit  those  regions  (the  United  States),  we  have  at  the  same 
time  especially  charged  liim  to  present  himself  in  our  name  be- 
fore your  Excellency,  and  to  deliver  into  your  hands  these  our 
letters,  together  with  many  salutations,  and  to  express  to  you,  in 
the  warmest  language,  the  sentiments  we  entertain  towards  you, 
which  he  will  testify.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  these  friendly 
demonstrations  on  our  part  will  bo  agreeable  to  you ;  and  least 
of  all  do  we  doubt  but  that  the  aforesaid  venerable  brother,  a 


"it-    ft 'i: 


IN   TIIK    UNITED   STATK8. 


505 


•r\('0,  to 
to  »«;o 

0  Arch- 
Aith  its 
r.  LcwifA 
le  U<»ly 

ihiut^toii 

1  Ik'trmi, 
lie.     His 

)l('Si!llltS. 

clibislioi) 
with  the 
tUo  con- 
iiu  by  l»i>^ 
OSS.  At 
)wing  au- 


accred- 
[tolio  See 
by  us  to 
the  saiuo 
jiKimc  be- 
Uiese  our 
lo  you,  in 
|ards  you, 
friendly 
ind  least 
Dvotlier,  a 


man  einiiiontly  distinguislicd  tor  i\u\  sterling  (pialities  of  mind 
and  heart  wliicli  cliariiclerizn  liiin,  will  bo  kindly  reccivod  by 
your  Exccllt'iuiy.  And  iiiaHinucli  as  wa  liave  been  intruHttid  by 
Divine  commission  with  tlu!  care  of  the  Lord's  flock  throughout 
the  world,  we  cannot  allow  this  oppoitunity  (o  pass  without 
earnestly  entreating  you  to  extend  your  protection  to  the  Catho- 
lics inhabiting  those  regions,  and  to  shield  tliem  at  all  times  with 
your  power  and  authority.  Keeling  (Confident  that  your  Excel- 
lency will  very  willingly  a(!(!ede  to  our  wishes,  and  grant  our 
requests,  we  shall  not  fail  to  oft'or  up  our  humble  supplicationB 
to  Almighty  God,  that  lie  may  bestow  upon  you,  illustrious  and 
honored  Sir,  the  gift  of  His  heaverdy  grace,  that  He  may  shower 
upon  you  every  kind  of  blessing,  and  unite  us  in  the  bonds  of 
perfect  charity. 

"Given  at  Rome,  in  the  Vatican,  March  31,  1853,  the  seventli 
of  our  Pontificate. 

"  Pius  IX.,  Pope. 
"  To  his  Excellency  thft 

"  Pkksident  of  thk  United  States. "<> 


»  "  Plus  P  P.  IX. 

*'  Il.LU9TRlS  KT  H0N0RABII,13  ViK,  RaI.UTEM  ! 

"  Cum  vcncrabilis  Fratcr  (^ajotnnuH,  Arehicpiscopus  Thebnnorum  ad  ordi- 
iiarii  nostri  et  Apostolieaj  Sedis  Nuntii  mumis  apud  Imporialem  Brazilien- 
Hem  allium  obeimdum  a  nobis  doslinatua  per  istUB  tnuiseat  regioaes,  eidem 
in  prsecipuis  mandatis  dedimiis  ut  noatro  Nomine  Nobilitatoui  tuam  conve- 
niat,  Tibiquo  has  nostnis  reddat  Littcras,  plurimtim  salutcm  dicat  et  simul 
nostri  in  te  animi  Hcnsus  luculciitis  verbis  oxprimat  atque  testetur. 

"  Procerto  liabemns  huec  nostra  in  te  stndia  per^uriita  tibi  fore,  ac  minime 
dnbitamus,  quincundcm  Vcncrabilem  Friitrem  c<rreg:ii8  animi,  ingeniiqne 
dotibuH  ornatiun  pro  e.\Iniia  tua  luinianitate,  bcniynissinie  sis  excepturus. 
p]t  quoniam  universi  Dominici  gregis  cura  nobis  divinitiis  est  cominissa, 
idcirco  baud  possumus  quin  hac  quoque  oceasione  libentiasimo  ntontes,  a 
Te  tolis  viribus  euixa  efBagitemus,  ut  Catiiolicos  iu  istis  regionibus  degente» 
valido  Tuo  patrooinio  et  nuctoritatc  tegere  et  tueri  semper  velis.  Duni 
autein  confidimus,  Nobilitatem  tuam  nostris  biacc  desideriis  ac  postula- 
tionibuH  perlibentor  esse  satisfacturam  baud  omittimuB  a  Deo  optimo 
Maximo  humiliter  exposcore,  ut  Te,  lUustris  et  Honorabilis  Vir,  coelestift 

22 


506 


TIIK   CATHOLIC  CHUUCH 


fill 


?■■"' 


It  might  Ijhvo  boen  oxpoctcil  tliat  public  opinion  would  coiv 
tinuo  to  resi)cct  a  poison  of  eininonc(>,  who  (^onHriotl  hiinsolt'  ex- 
clusively to  hi«  rcli^HDUs  ninl  pacitlr  sphere.  liut,  ns  wo  Imvo 
said,  the  Hpirit  of  falsohooil,  iilaniiiMl  at  the  increase  of  the  legit- 
imate inlluonce  of  Koine,  sought  to  oppose  it;  and  for  this  work 
of  iniquity,  excited  some  Italian  refugees,  who  distinguished 
themselves  in  America  by  a  blind  hatred  of  the  religion  which 
is  the  glory  and  fortune  of  tiicir  native  land.  Banished  from 
Italy,  which  their  inomentary  reign  had  brought  to  the  verge  of 
ruin,  tliese  demagogues  sought  to  obtain  support  abroail  by  flat- 
tering rrotestantism,  by  defaming  the  Papacy,  and  seeking  to 
destroy  the  faith  in  which  they  were  baptized.  Their  paper, 
L'' Eco  (ritalia,  and  their  orator,  the  ex-Uarnabite  friar  (iavazzi, 
undertook  to  alarm  the  Americans,  by  tales  of  the  perfidious  and 
ambitious  intrigues  of  Rome,  at  the  same  time  that  tliey  attacked 
the  Nuncio  in  person.  The  press  soon  repeated  the  calumnies 
of  the  Italians,  and  (Javazzi,  especially,  aecused  the  prelate  of 
having  condemned  the  unfortunate  j)riest,  Ugo  Bassi,  an  ex-Bar- 
nabite,  and  ofHcer  in  tlie  horde  of  Garibaldi,  who  was  seized  l)y 
the  Austrians  in  1849,  during  the  flight  of  that  chieftain  of  tlio 
Condottieri.  Now  at  that  time,  Ar(;hbishop  Bedini,  although 
pro-legate  of  tlie  Pope  at  Bologna,  actually  exercised  no  authori- 
ty. The  Austrians  were  masters  of  the  place,  and  Ugo  Bassi, 
who  had  but  too  well  deserved  his  fate,  was  put  to  death  by  the 
Austrian  forces,  witliout  any  act  of  the  pro-legate. 

Besides  this  calumny,  which  the  J^ew  York  Express  complai- 
santly  eclioed,  that  sheet  gave  the  list  of  fifty  pseudo-patriots 
shot,  it  averred,  by  the  orders  of  Archbishop  Bedini ;  and  sum- 


BU8B  gratiae  donis,  omnique  veroB  felicitfttis  genere  cumulet,  ac  perfecta  nobis 
cum  caritate  conjungnt. 

"Datum  EomsB  apud  y.  Petram  die  81  Martii,  anno  1853,  Pontifieatus 
noBtri  anno  septimo. 

"  Pius  P.  P.  IX." 


(Voiild  coil- 
liiiiiHt'lf  ox- 
is  \vi!   Imvo 
f  tlie  legit- 
r  this  work 
stingiiished 
gion  which 
lishod  from 
he  vergo  of 
oa«:l  by  flnt- 
8(>eking  to 
'heir  paper, 
iar  (iavazzi, 
rfiihous  and 
loy  attacked 
}  calumnies 
5  prehite  of 
,  an  ex-Bar- 
is  seized  l)y 
;ftain  of  the 
li,  altliough 
no  authori- 
Ugo  Bassi, 
leath  by  the 

•ess  complai- 

'udo-patriots 

;  and  sum- 

perfecta  nobis 
J,  Pontificatus 
9  P.  P.  IX." 


^'xeemio,,,.  >"n<.of,oM.  «||  pari in'pnt ion  in  those 

;i:-nh^::^^:':;^^^^^    o.,. .., ,„..,^^„^. 

J'«<^"-on,  and  allow  his  a„.,        '       ''"'  '"'^'  '"^''  ^'"^  "'-^'na  of 

'  "'^"'  to  onler  into  a  jn  n-hV-.ti^   r         ''"'  ""''^"''  '-»"•'  """'i- 
^  l-t<^-  Xuneio,  it  n4h  :  ^^'•"■^'"  ^--^  of  ti:o 

f  ^J'^'  Italian  Ca,I..,nan   i        ',     f "'  '"  "'"^•"""'  the  imposfun 
;'';^'--st  An.en..n       ,      ""^y^  ""'"-^^  then,  in  „.o  !;os 

-  --e,  that  truth  c^J^  ^   '"  °:'"  •'^''^'^'  ^'^  ^-  vea, 
^ble  authonV  thought  ins   ;;,  ""  ''  '^  ^^^''•"'•''-     Avon 

-t  doenn.nts  l,y  the  .         nf       "'  ^"'"^'"^  ^''<^  -'P- 

"-^-•'•^l^'e  n.onn.nent,  and  in       !   ^'^'  '^'^^  ^^'-''^l  ''-Hain  an 
'■•"-■s.  -^^'  -•  ^^^et,  a  pi„o,,.  ,r  the  ,uilty  de- 

A;cl^bishopBedinineitI,er  tt!ro  ""'     "'  ''^'  ^■^I^l--b-.v,  tCt 
-    the  Fonr  1..^,,,,,.  ^^      ^^^  ^or  p„t  to  death  the  p  tri  ts 

c'^uniing  the  sHt^     /.       ^^e  Austrian  mih-fary  o-cno,/ 

to   i"e  srate  of  sieo-n  nn  fi.    ,h  ,  -^  s^^^ernor,  nro- 

'■-;vi'!'  these  .cn.„L,:i::^  .'""'-'-' '."  official  no.ifio.- 
^™»-  aaJ  that  „,e  En.oj'of  i;    iI      !"'  «°°''  ^^"^-^  »'■«-  citi- 


!,; 


508 


THE  CATHOLIC  ClIUnCH 


him,  may  soon  directly  and  fully  exorcise  his  peaceful  mission  in 
your  midst." 

On  the  17th  of  May  only,  tne  city  of  Bologna  had 'been  put 
in  the  state  of  siege  ;  but,  l>y  a  notification  of  the  6th  of  June, 
this  exceptional  state  was  extended  to  the  Fonr  Legations,  and 
thus  annulled  the  edict  of  the  26th  of  March,  by  which  Arch- 
bishop Bedini,  when  he  first  entered  Bologna,  declared  the  civil 
and  criminal  courts  restored  to  the  free  and  full  exercise  of  their 
respective  functions.  With  the  procedure  and  sentences  of  these 
courts,  the  Apostolic  Commissary  had  no  power  to  interfere. 
The  will  of  the  Pontifical  envoy  was  to  restore  the  civil  laws  all 
their  sway  ;  the  perversity  of  the  lawless  compelled  the  Austrian 
general  to  concentrate  all  powers  in  himself. 

The  question  de  jure  is  settled  by  these  documents.  The  ques- 
tion de  facto  receives  the  same  solution,  by  taking  up  the  names 
of  the  fifty  would-be  patriots,  said  to  have  been  put  to  death  by 
Archbishop  Bedini,  and  by  giving  the  ofiicial  record  of  the 
crime,  sentence,  and  death  of  each  one,  thus  showing  that,  in 
point  of  fact.  Archbishop  Bedini  had  nothing  to  do  with  their 
death.  The  ofiicial  documents  in  the  Appendix  will  also  show 
that  the  majority  of  these  martyrs  of  freedom  Avere  robbers  and 
bandits.  Does  this  deprive  them  of  the  title  of  Italian  patriots  ? 
On  the  contrary,  the  hordes  of  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi  were  re- 
cruited among  the  scum  of  society.  May  this  lesson  teach 
Americans  whether  all  the  political  refugees  from  Europe  de- 
serve their  sympathy !  Because  in  the  United  States  the  Repub- 
lican form  of  government  is  justly  loved  by  all  the  citizens,  many 
would  view  in  every  European  republican  a  brother ;  but  can  they 
not  understand  that  the  best  form  of  government  for  a  country 
is  that  which  is  upheld  by  the  majoiity  of  the  people  ?  Go,  in 
Europe,  into  a  tavern,  gambling-house,  prison,  or  galley,  and  in- 
quire the  political  opinions  of  the  frequenters  and  inmates  of 
such  places :  all  will  tell  you  that  they  are  republicans,  per- 


ssion  m 

een  put 
)f  June, 
Dus,  and 
h  Arcli- 
,he  civil 
of  their 
of  these 
nterfere. 
laws  all 
A.ustrian 

'he  ques- 
16  names 
death  by 
a  of  the 
'  that,  in 
^ith  their 
Iso  show 
jbers  and 
patriots  ? 
1  were  re- 
,on  teach 
irope  de- 
le  Repub- 
ens,  many 
t  can  they 
a  country 
?     Go,  in 
>y,  and  in- 
nmates  of 
icans,  per- 


^  .  IN  THE    UNITED  STATES.  j^g 

>0"»,  who  flatler  tI,o  lower  o,Z      \  ''"'"  "''  *<=  "■»«- 

">  their  n:,mo.  '"^'"^'  '"  '>°P<^«  "f  "sing  a„d  ruli„g 

f "SXfBi^^tXlt  7';"  '*^"^  "'"«"  )--  that 
f  7.«.o  eccfc.iastica.  .,.  i  L't  f:""";  "^"'-^"-'«-»-  «-' 
to  h,s  fate  or  memory,  took  thr  l'    ,'  '''""'"^  ""M'^renee 

Bas^i  died  iB  the  m„s    It    °  '"''!<=*  ■"""•'^t  iu  both.    LVo 

"-;  he  wished  hH  fat^S  r',"""::  "f  P'='^  »"1  -PO.u! 
"PPosodit;  and  a„  arg^:    r"*  P""'" '  >'"' the  Austria,., 
Their  censorship  was  iul,    ,7  w!  "'"'"'  "™°  '"''  °»  «h»'- 
tant  document,  through  the  kind  o(K        r'"'"''  ""^^o  ""Por- 
■'"ng*.  who  took  the  tr^ouhle  to    1 !  ;",  "'  ""  «^'-  °^-  C™- 
«•  *rg,man,  who  rendered^mp':;':  !    "'"•    ^"'  '''^*"«'"»''- 
dunng  his  mission,  both  at  wZ      ,        """'  '°  "'"  N""<=io 
«ot  but  take  a  lively  iuteresti  „    °^'°",  "'  """^  ^'°'''-.  -"" 
f»'o  the  Amcican  people         "  P'"'"«  '"'»  »'  »  "'"e  light  be- 

The  Carbonari  lodo-es  nf  P,„         ,    , 

-o'ings,  to  defeat  the°  miss  In    fT  t'  'T""'  '"  '"-  -eret 

of  Thebes.     Gavazzi  star   d    rol  r    ^  ""'"^'''"^  ^'-"''W^hop 

■•".d  concerted  hi,  plan,  w  ,,  ri^™  '''  """f  "f  the  pio  , 

Itah-an  apostates  Jon "::„',  'l;:^^''!'*'  ">  ^™«i-     The' 

vhuh-nt  enemies  of  the  pJlT  "'J"'f''''^i  .™d  the  most 

™d  the  rostrum  with  „SZ  r  f'  *^"  ^"'^''  «>=  P"'?'', 
p.-0-a.e,  who  wa,  hch,  up  tl  'C*  ™  '"^  '--'d  -d  piol' 
hena.  For  several  month,  Gavl  f  I"""""  "'  *<=  ^'"'""« 
hi*op  Bedini,  like  hi,  shatw  1  ^^^  T^'  ''»P  "^  Arch- 
cty  ;  and  there  the  ox-monk  e;lav!T;'  ""  ''"■"™  '»  --T 

■"■■t»to  the  crowd,  by  vomiting  ton.        0     V""*"-""''"''""' 

oourses  on  the  venerable  object  o     ,'  .  '"""-^  '"  ''">■''"  '^'^- 

'>"ld  up  ,0  the  vengeance  o       „  "     ''"'T''"     ^  '"""  '^  >»ver 

g  ot  a  people  w.thout  their  arisiuo^  as 


:'flr 


510 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


avengers.  lu  the  summer  of  1853,  a  Sardinian  frigate  landed  at 
New  York  eighty-tlirce  Italians,  recommending  them  to  the  hos- 
pitality of  Americans,  as  political  refugees  from  Kome  and  Lom- 
bardy ;  but  in  reality  there  were  among  the  number  criminals 
condemned,  for  various  ofJ'ences,  to  transportation.  For  these 
men,  attacks  with  word  and  pen  on  the  Nuncio  soon  seemed  to 
legalize  a  crime  of  another  dye,  and  a  plot  was  formed  among 
them  to  assassinate  the  prelate.  However,  the  remorse  of  one  of 
the  conspirators  enabled  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  to  be  on  his 
guard.  Sassi,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  informed  the  Nuncio  of  the 
attempt  to  be  made  for  his  assassination  ;  but  his  visits  to  the 
spot  where  the  envoy  of  His  Holiness  resided  had  not  been  un- 
observed. Sassi  was  stabbed  to  the  heart  at  night,  in  the  streets 
of  New  York.*  Before  expiring,  their  victim  made  revelations 
to  the  police,  and  also  to  the  Abbe  Cauvin,  a  priest  of  Nice,  who 
endeavors  to  enlighten  his  countrymen  with  a  zeal  which  nothing 
repels.  Mr.  Cauvin  applied  to  Archbishop  Bedini,  whom  the 
news  of  the  murder  surprised  in  Canada,  to  know  how  he  should 
act ;  and  the  touching  reply  of  the  worthy  representative  of  Pius 
IX.  was  as  follows  : 

"  My  dear  Abb6  : 

"  I  beg  you  to  take  no  steps  on  my  behalf  with  the  authori- 
ties, as  to  the  affair  of  poor  Sassi.  It  is  not  in  the  least  my 
desire  to  pursue  any  one  whomsoever,  with  the  sword  of  justice. 
My  life  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  far  more  than  in  those  of  men. 
My  ministry  is  one  of  peace  and  pardon,  and  my  heart  can  only 
love  those  who  hate  me. 

"  Continue  to  comfort  the  hearts  of  the  poor  Italians,  who, 

*  To  cover  the  plot,  the  guilty  and  tlieir  favorers  endeavored  to  make 
Sassi's  death  a  private  quarrel ;  but  the  evidence  is  so  clear  as  to  preclude 
all  doubt.  Had  tlic  American  people  been  convinced  that  Sassi  luid  been 
murdered  from  political  motives,  tlie  foreign  refugees  would  have  lost  all 
credit  in  u  moment;  and  the  murderers  knew  this  well. 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


611 


3d  at 

lios- 
Loni- 
ainals 
these 
aed  to 
imong 
one  of 
on  his 
,  of  the 
to  the 
een  im- 
i  streets 
elations 
ice,  -who 
nothing 
torn  the 
should 
of  Pius 


authori- 
least  my 

justice. 

of  men. 
lean  only 


.,  who, 


Ins, 


ll  to  make 
lo  precUitlo 
\  had  been 
Ive  lost  all 


\ 


after  all,  cannot  but  be  ever  exasperated  by  the  sufferings  of 
exile.  Poor  people  !  they  are  indeed  to  be  pitied.  Ptest  assured 
that  I  will  recommend  them  especially  to  God's  mercy  ;  and, 
unable  to  extend  my  hand  to  relieve  them,  since  I  do  not  know 
them,  I  extend  it  gladly  over  them  to  bless  them  all— be  they 
who  they  may. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Abbe,  &c., 

"  C.  Bedini, 
*'  Aechbtshop  of  TiirnEa, 

' '  Apostolic  Nuncio. 
"St.  Hyacinthe,  September  20th,  1853." 

The  iniquity  of  a  controversy  which  puts  the  poniard  into  the 
hands  of  assassins,  and  the  contrast  between  these  diabolical  at- 
tacks and  so  much  mildness,  soon  opened  the  eyes  of  many 
Protestants,  who  had  at  first  been  misled  by  the  incessant  cal- 
umnies of  the  refugees.  A  remarkable  article  in  the  Courier 
and  Enquher,  a  well-known  and  influential  journal  in  New 
York  (November  1),  was  the  signal  of  the  reaction.  The  politi- 
cal press  almost  all  took  up  the  defence  of  the  Nuncio ;  and 
then  it  was  that  the  Mnyor  of  New  Yoik  officially  invited  the 
representative  of  the  Holy  See  to  visit  the  public  establish- 
ments and  benevolent  institutions — an  honor  accorded  only 
to  the  most  eminent  guests  of  the  city.  This  excursion  took 
place  on  the  10th  of  November;  and  after  visiting  the  Institute 
for  the  Blind,  and  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  Orphan  Asy- 
lums, Schools  and  Hospitals,  the  Nuncio  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous 
banquet,  tendered  to  him  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 
Everywhere  Archbishop  Bedini  charmed  the  authorities  of  the 
city,  and  the  many  forlorn  ones  whom  it  gathers  into  its  public 
institutions,  by  the  appositeness  of  his  remarks,  and  the  pro- 
found knowledge  displayed  by  his  questions ;  but,  above  all,  they 
enthusiastically   applauded  the  phrase  by  which  he  closed  his 


^m 


\m  M 


512 


THE   CATHOLIC   ClIUllClI 


thanks  to  the  assembly  for  diiuking-  his  health  :  '*  As  you  all  des- 
ignate the  Pope  by  the  name  of  lloly  Father,  let  us  hope  that  he 
may  one  day  call  you  all  his  children." 

During  this  period,  the  least  hai-assed  in  his  stay,  Archbishop 
Bedini  was  enabled  to  celebrate  the  most  solemn  and  most  in- 
teresting ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  worship,  in  order  to  corre- 
spond to  the  invitations  which  met  him  from  every  side.  Without 
regard  to  fatigue,  he  was  seen  in  turn  dedicating  cathedrals,  cele- 
brating ordinations,  giving  the  \'eil  to  religious,  receiving  the  ab- 
jurations of  Protestants,  opening  ecclesiastical  retreats,  presiding 
at  college  exhibitions,  visiting  convents  and  hospitals,  consoling 
the  sick,  and  blessing  the  orphans — everywhere  welcomed  as 
an  envoy  of  mercy,  and  leaving  evidences  of  edification  and  of 
devotedness  to  the  Holy  See.  On  seeing  the  dignity  which 
the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  brought  to  the  discharge  of  these 
different  functions,  pi'iests  and  laity  conceived  the  highest  idea 
of  the  Roman  Court ;  and  the  faithful  in  America,  who  admired 
the  spectacle  of  so  much  pomp  united  to  so  much  piety,  asked 
themselves  what  must  be  the  august  majesty  of  the  Holy  Father, 
whose  ambassador  possessed  so  striking  a  reflection  of  it.  The 
grandest  ceremony  of  all  was  the  consecration  of  the  Bishops  of 
Burlington,  Brooklyn,  and  Newark,  which  took  place  in  the 
Cathedral,  at  New  York,  on  Sunday,  the  30tl\  of  October,  1853, 
by  the  hands  of  Archbishop  Bedini.  The  Catholicis  of  America, 
ordinarily  habituated  to  a  religious  simplicity  required  by  the  pov- 
erty of  their  sanctuaries,  were  filled  with  enthusiasm  at  a  solem- 
nity which  gave  them  some  idea  of  the  brilliant  festivals  of 
Christian  Rome  :  they  admired  the  clear  accentuation  and  har- 
monious chant  of  the  Nuncio,  when  pronouncing  the  canonical 
interrogatories  and  the  magnificent  prayers  of  the  Episcopal 
consecration ;  they  followed  with  pious  curiosity  the  various 
ceremonies,  so  new  to  most  of  them ;  and  if  the  mission  of 
Aichbishop  Bedini  had  had  no  other  result  than  the  deep  imprcs- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


513 


ill  des- 
,liat  he 

ibishop 
lost  iii- 
)  coric- 
A^itbout 
lis,  cele- 
;  the  ah- 
)residing 
jonsoling 
;omecl   as 


sion  produced  by  the  majesty  with  which  he  maiutainod  the 
pomp  of  worship,  it  would  have  rendered  considerable  service  to 
religion. 

In  the  month  of  December,  the  Apostolic  Nuncio  set  out  to 
visit  the  Western  States,  stopping  in  the  principal  cities  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  especially  at  Pittsburg,  where  the  enthusiastic  wel- 
come of  the  Catholics  was  troubled  by  the  insults  of  some  fanat- 
ics. At  Cincinnati,  however,  these  acts  of  violence  assumed  a 
more  serious  character.  The  desperate  attacks  of  the  Italian 
refugees  had,  as  we  have  seen,  failed  to  excite  public  opinion 
against  the  venerable  object  of  their  hate.  Unable  to  arouse 
the  Americans,  the  Italians  called  upon  another  paity  of  the 
socialist  immigration,  and  the  German  infidels,  more  numerous 
and  more  influential  than  the  Italians,  might  well  hope,  by  in- 
timidation, to  drive  out  the  Representative  of  the  Holy  See.  If 
we  term  them  infidels,  we  merely  give  them  a  name  which  they 
adopt  and  are  so  proud  of,  thai  they  glory  in  what  others  would 
deem  an  insult.  The  political  emigration  of  the  last  few  years, 
and  Kossuth's  travels,  have  organized  these  Germans  into  a  fear- 
ful league  against  Catholicity  ;  but  the  introduction  of  the  Ger- 
man element  into  the  pinulation  of  the  United  States  dates  far 
back.  Ever  since  the  do  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  fer- 
ment of  that  amalgam  of  ubborn  thinking  nations  has  period- 
ically sent  its  portion  to  America.  Every  war,  every  treaty  that 
transmitted  a  province  from  one  sovereign  to  another,  the  sect 
that  believed  itself  persecuted,  or  that  which  lost  the  power 
of  persecuting,  sought  a  refuge  in  emigration  ;  and  thus  the 
New  "Woi'ld  successively  received  the  descendants  of  the  fierce 
Hussites,  who  abandoned  Silesia ;  the  fr;!gments  of  the  wild 
Anabaptists,  crushed  at  Munster,  but  ever  seeking  to  raise  their 
heads ;  or  else  the  Lutherans  of  the  Palatinate  and  Salzburg, 
imwilling  to  live  in  their  own  country  when  the  Catholic  wor- 
ship was  tolerated  there.     From  all  these,  and  more  recent  emi- 

22* 


r 


w 


>  iii 


514 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


I-: 
■)!:.■ 


gratioiis,  has  resulted  a  Gorman  population  estimated  at  no  less 
than  four  millions. 

Thinking  men  have  long  dreaded  the  anju'ehy  menaced  by  (he 
impious  audacity  of  a  part  of  these  Germans.  Their  hundred 
papers  are  almost  unanimous  in  their  socialist  and  even  atheistic 
tendency.  War  against  all  religions  in  general,  and  Catholicity 
in  particular,  is  the  motto  of  almost  all  these  gazettes,  which 
openly  preach  the  deification  of  the  creature,  and  the  satisfac- 
tion of  every  appetite,  of  every  passion.  This  poisoned  presa 
was  now  to  undertake  to  excite  its  readers  against  the  Nimcio, 
in  order  to  bring  on  a  general  war  against  the  Catholics ;  and 
the  arrival  of  Archbishop  Bedini  at  Cincinnati  was  followed  by 
the  appearance  of  a  frightful  article  in  the  IlocJuvccchter,  a  Ger- 
man paper  in  that  city.  To  appreciate  this  bloody  polemic, 
traced  with  the  stiletto  of  the  assassin,  we  must  cite  a  few 
lines. 

After  calling  the  archbishop  a  murderer,  a  human  butc^her,  a 
Patagonian  cannibal,  ofleiing  in  sacrifice  the  tears  of  poverty, 
and  after  saying  that,  for  the  solemnity  of  Christmas,  the 
Church  prepares  horrible  and  bloody  mysteries,  the  journalist 
continues : 

"  What  name  shall  we  deserve,  if  the  butcher  of  Bologna  re- 
turn home  safe  and  sound,  and  leave  the  starry  ltci)ublic  full  of 
life,  his  body  untouched,  and  his  limbs  unbroken  ?  If  it  is  so, 
let  us  talk  no  more  of  the  power  of  ideas  of  liberty  to  conquer 
the  world ;  let  us  no  longer  exalt  the  valor  and  dignity  of  man ; 
let  us  keep  our  mouths  shut  and  our  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground. 
Posterity  will  spit  upon  our  cowardice,  and  will  feel  only  con- 
tempt and  disdain.  Whenever  the  opportunity  of  vengeance 
oflters,  it  must  be  seized  at  once,  and  used  to  its  furthest  limit. 
Every  man  who  has  motives  to  exercise  his  vengeance,  should 
exercise  it  when  he  can.  The  sons  of  Italy  are  <oo  few  among 
us  to  punish  the  bloodhound  of  Bologna  for  his  dark  and  san- 


n  t 


,-eiiy, 
tlio 
L-nalist 

iia  vc- 
ull  of 
is  i^o, 
mqnev 
man ; 
ound. 
y  con- 
eance 
limit, 
phoukl 
imong 
Id  san- 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


515 


guinary  deeds.  The  Yankee  is  too  absorbed  in  his  speculations 
and  love  of  money  ;  the  Yankee  has  neither  feelinrrs  nor  princi- 
ples :  do  not  trust  to  the  Yankee  for  your  vengeHL^,t.  Rely 
still  less  on  the  sons  of  Green  Erin,  the  vulgar  Irish.  They 
are  nurtured  in  ignorance  and  vulgarity ;  their  eyes  are  blind ; 
they  are  incapable  of  seeing  beyond  a  priest's  gown  ;  they  can- 
not discern  under  the  cross  and  the  rosary  the  heart  of  flint,  the 
heart  of  the  hyena  !  Germans,  you  are  the  elect.  The  Wakr- 
i-nts  Freund  (German  Catholic  Paper)  is  on  the  track;  it  is  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  the  assassin  of  Ugo  Bassi,  and  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  other  patriots,  that  Bcdini,  that  murderer, 
covered  with  opprobrium,  is  not  precisely  safe  among  us.  In 
fact,  that  sheet  is  not  wrong.  We  laugh  at  what  the  Wahrheits 
Freund  is  pleased  to  call  American  hospitality !  Who  will  suffer 
a  hyena,  a  tiger,  among  men  ?  Bedini  goes  about  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour.  He  thinks  but  of  murder — the  murder  of 
minds  and  ideas.  He  is  not  our  guest ;  he  is  a  thief;  he  is  a 
beast  of  prey,  plotting  the  destruction  of  the  peace  of  the  coun- 
try. Whoever  offers  him  hospitality  in  America  is  an  enemy  of 
liberty.  Such  is  Bedini.  Is  there  a  hospitable  roof  in  the  starry 
Republic  for  tigers  and  hyenas  1  Is  there  no  ball,  no  dagger  for 
R  monster  never  equalled  on  earth  ?  The  Catholic  journal  has 
reason  to  tremble  for  Bedini's  life  in  Cincinnati " 

This  sanguinary  article  appeared  on  the  24th  of  December, 
and  the  next  day,  wliile  the  Nuncio  was  reposing  in  the  evening, 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  five  hundred 
Germans  of  the  Society  of  Freemen,  headed  by  Hassaurek,  editor 
of  the  Hochw(Mcht€i\  marched  to  the  temporary  r  3sidence  of  the 
Nuncio.  They  were  armed,  and  carried  torches  to  light  them  in 
their  work.  The  police  were  on  the  alert,  and  a  hundred  reso- 
lute inen,  stopping  the  march  of  the  rioters,  ordered  them  to 
disperse.  Firearms  were  discharged,  and  after  a  struggle  in 
which  eighteen  persons  fell,  the  Germans  took  flight,  lea.ving 


• 


I! ; 

,  'I 


I 


liliP 


616 


THE   CATHOLIC    CHURCH 


seventy  of  tlicir  party  in  the;  liaruls  of  tlio  police.  The  laltoi 
had  done  their  duty  nobly,  and  for  ii  few  days  [lublic  opinion 
rejoiced  at  their  energetic  suppression  of  the  riot.  But  the  Ger- 
mans soon  succeeded  in  awakening  to  a  eeitain  point  the  ever 
active  Protestant  fanaticism,  by  representing  theinsebes  as  vic- 
tims, and  their  defeat  as  a  triumph  of  I'opery.  The  rioters  were 
accordingly  enlarged,  and  the  policemen  guilty  of  having  done 
their  duty  were  arrested  or  broken  ;  and  thci  (lermans  then,  cer- 
tain of  impunity,  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  burning  the  Nuncio 
in  effigy,  amid  the  vociferations  of  impiely  and  wrath.  By  these 
menacing  demonstrations,  they  wished  to  alarm  the  Nuncio  ;  but 
the  courageous  prelate  was  not  shaken,  and  did  not  the  less  pro- 
long his  stay  in  Cincinnati  for  a  whole  week.  "  I  had  an- 
nounced," wrote  lie,  "  that  I  would  bless  a  new  church,  and  I 
could  not  let  the  infidels  triumph  by  setting  out  before ;  more 
especially  as  the  German  Catholics,  who  are  very  numerous  at 
Cincinnati,  begged  me  to  visit  tlieir  church  and  their  establish- 
ments. Thus  I  spent  the  week,  led  about  at  the  desire  of  these 
pious  faithful.  I  celebrated  Mass  in  some  German  churches,  I 
inspected  their  schools,  seminaries,  the  Jesuit  college,  fud  sev- 
eral convents,  and  I  everywhere  rec^ei'cd  the  most  satisfactoiy 
impressions  of  the  spirit  of  faith,  science,  and  charity  which 
reigns  in  these  remarkable  institutions.  Oh  !  how  many  recip- 
rocal consolations !  how  many  blessings  given  and  received  with 
a  heart  moved,  but  trusting  in  Providence  !  The  devil  riiust 
have  shuddered  at  these  holy  transports,  and  the  warm-hearted 
Avelcome  extended  to  the  representative  of  the  Holy  See." 

Thus  we  behold  this  prelate  never  turned  aside  from  his  mis- 
sion ;  and  when,  some  days  after,  a  riot  tl  reatened  hira  at  Wheel- 
ing ;  when  men  armed  with  swords  and  clubs  sought  as  the 
troop  led  by  Judas  sought  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Archbishop 
Bedini  will  not  think  of  himself;  he  will  rhink  only  of  the  grief 
of  the  Holy  Father,  Pope  Pius  IX ,  on  learning  the  outrages  of 


IN  THK    UNITED  STATES. 


517 


the  wicked.  "  Thoy  again  ainuscd  themselves  with  burning  nie 
in  eflig^,,  wrote  he  on  the  1(M\  of  Janiuiry,  1854.  "  What  ix 
mortification  it  will  bo  to  the  Iloly  Father,  as  it  is  to  all  good 
Catholics  here  !"  Wo  must,  however,  repeat  our  declaration, 
that  these  manifestations  were  confined  to  the  circle  of  German 
infidels ;  and  to  the  close  the  Americans  were  spectators,  taking 
no  part.  But  in  the  United  States  a  fanatic  minority  can  keep 
up  a  long  agitation  under  the  cloak  of  liberty  oi  worship,  liberty 
of  speech,  and  liberty  of  the  press.  The  electric  telegiaph  was 
employed  by  the  conspirators  to  increase  and  spread  their  demon- 
strations, and  the  journals  of  the  Union  were  filled  with  dispatch- 
es announcing  that  in  such  a  city  a  rising  wuh  m  preparation 
against  the  lloman  hyena;  that  in  another  he  was  burnt  in 
effigy ;  and  in  a  third,  they  had  broken  the  windows  of  the 
churches.  This  news  was  generally  false  or  exaggerated ;  but 
the  blow  was  struck,  and,  thanks  to  the  mania  for  imitation,  tho 
month  of  January,  1854,  saw  groups  of  Germans  in  most  of  the 
cities  of  the  United  States  enjoying  the  satisfaction  of  burning  a 
mitred  figure,  amid  the  most  impious  shouts. 

After  the  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed  at  Cincinnati  and 
Wheeling,  the  Nuncio  returned  to  Washington,  where  he  enjoyed 
some  days'  repose;  and  he  wrote  from  that  city  on  tho  iTth  of 
.lanuary,  "  I  hei'e  enjoy  the  amiable  and  generous  hospitality  of 
the  French  Minister,  the  Count  do  Sartigos,  who  lavishes  every 
attention  upon  me ;  and  I  am  infinitely  happy  to  see  'that  it  is 
always  Franco  that  upholds  the  dignity  of  religion  and  the  Holy 
See,  even  when  men  wished  to  humiliate  them.  This  morning  I 
received  a  most  touching  letter  from  the  most  distinguished 
Catholics  of  Baltimore.  These  gentlemen  inform  me  that  they 
will  come  to  Washington  to-morrow  with  their  families,  in  order 
to  show  to  the  representative  of  the  Holy  See  their  respects  and 
protestations  against  the  late  demonstrations.  Here  marks  of  at- 
tentions are  not  wanting  on  the  part  of  the  most  distinguished 


618 


TUE   CATHOLIC   CIIUUCH 


persons  of  the  country,  as  well  as  of  the  diplomatic  body,  and 
1  am  most  satisfied  with  my  stay,  fhe  reception  of  the  deputation 
from  Baltimore  will  take  place  at  the  French  embassy — another 
subject  of  just  pride  for  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Church." 

But,  apart  from  marks  of  politeness  and  compliments  of  con- 
dolence, the  government  at  Washington  took  no  measures  to 
protect  the  person  of  the  Nuncio,  and  nothing  could  induce  it  to 
shako  oft*  its  indifference.  They  took  refuge  behind  the  plea 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  was  Nuncio  only  to  Brazil ;  and 
as  the  dispatches  of  Mr.  Lewis  Cass,  Charge  d' Affaires  of  the 
United  States  at  Rome,  mentioned  tlie  complimentary  mission  of 
the  prelate  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  these  dispatches 
were  carefully  lost,  and  to  all  the  demands  of  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Marcy's  answer  was,  that  they  could  not  be  found.*  In  presence 
of  this  pusillanimous  forgetfulness  of  international  duties,  the 
Senate  took  up  the  cause  of  right  and  justice,  and  the  23d 
of  January  was  sj)ent  in  discussions  in  which  the  violence  of 
the  Germans  against  the  Nuncio  was  denounced,  and  the  per- 
sonal character  of  that  eminent  prelate  avenged  from  the  calum- 
nies heaped  on  his  head.  General  Cass  spoke  first,  and  after  him 
eight  other  Senators  successively  expressed  the  severest  censure 
on  the  turbulent  nianifestations  of  European  refugees.  Only  one 
member  pretended  that  the  will  of  the  people  was  to  be  respected 
even  in  its  vagaries ;  but  we  must  say  that  it  was  the  Senator 
from  California ;  and  it  is  easy  to  feel  that,  for  an  envoy  from 
that  State,  scenes  of  disorder,  unless  attended  with  assassinations, 
seemed  not  worthy  of  repression. 


*  We  give  in  the  Appendix  Lewis  Cass's  dispatch  of  March  20,  1858, 
whicli  Marcy  could  not  find  for  the  Senate.  It  was  the  very  letter  the  Sen- 
ators wanted,  and  the  one  that  settled  the  question  mooted  as  to  Mon- 
seif^neur  Bedini's  complimentary  mission.  We  also  publish  Mr.  Lewis 
Cass's  letter  to  Cardinal  Antonelli.  "to  assure  his  Eminence  of  the  cordial 
reception  which  Mouseigneur  Bedlui  would  receive  from  the  government 
tit  Wiiuhington," 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


619 


and 


0,  1853, 
le  Sen- 

o  Mon- 
Lewia 
cordial 
rnment 


Tho  debates  in  the  Seuato  attracted  much  atteiitio'.i,  and  lion- 
est  men  of  all  parties  and  creeds  ;ippluuded  the  eloquent  mani- 
festation of  the  sontimeu*8  of  the  (loiinlry.  It  was  understood 
that  the  Nuncio  was  soon  to  start  for  Europe,  and  had  had  his 
final  audience  with  the  I'residcut.  Emissaries  of  the  secret  so- 
cieties tracked  his  steps  to  inform  the  conspirators,  and  get  up 
insulting  mobs  in  every  city  ho  was  to  pass  through.  For  sev- 
eral weeks,  on  the  departure  of  every  steamer  for  Europe,  crowds 
of  Germans  flocked  to  the  wharf,  ready  to  rush  on  the  Nuncio 
as  soon  as  he  appeared.  These  tumultuous  scones  were  re-enacted 
at  New  York  and  Boston,  and  everywhere,  the  telegraph  and  the 
reports  of  the  hostile  papers  increased  tho  disorder,  and  increased 
a  hundred-fold  the  number  of  the  rioters,  in  order  to  alarm  the 
city  authorities,  and  banish  all  idea  of  repressing  riots  which 
were  represented  as  so  formidable.  This  conspiracy  of  falsehood 
was  not  unsuccessful,  and  the  mayors  of  several  cities,  even  those 
who  had  publicly  entertained  the  Nuncio  some  months  before, 
DOW  entreated  him  to  keep  himself  concealed,  and  shorten  his 
stay,  in  their  fear  at  the  prospect  of  a  riot  which  it  would  re- 
quire all  their  limited  forces  to  keep  in  check. 

But  the  unbridling  of  every  bad  passion  was  an  undeniable 
proof  of  the  good  realized  by  the  memorable  mission  of  Arch- 
bishop Bedini.  For  infidelity  and  socialism,  the  Papacy  is  the 
great  enemy  to  combat.  As,  in  the  time  of  Voltaire,  the  cry 
was,  "  We  must  crush  it,"  or  at  least  wound  it  in  America ; 
for  six  months  they  employed  successively  falsehood,  calumny, 
menaces,  insults,  the  press,  the  pulpit,  the  riot,  and  the  dirk  of 
the  assassin.  These  machinations  sowed  with  thorns  the  painful 
way  of  the  mild  and  illustrious  Pontifical  envoy ;  but  on  leaving 
New  York,  he  nevertheless  bore  precious  consolations.  He  left 
the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  filled  with  admiration  of  his 
virtues  and  angelical  patience.  He  had  witnessed  their  attach- 
ment to  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  he  had  powerfully  contributed 


520 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


to  incrcaso  it  in  their  hearts.  Ilo  liad  «hown  the  divided  Prot- 
estants the  august  spectaclo  of  unity  in  the  prouiptuess  of  the 
bishops  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  honor  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Holy  See,  and  to  give  him  infurination  as  to 
their  respective  dioceses.  Those  are  important  rcsuUs,  which  still 
subsist,  now  that  the  clamors  of  impiety  have  died  away.* 


CnAPTEll   XXVIII. 


1854-1850. 
Boaction  agaiust  the  Catholics— Organization  of  tho  Know-Nuthings, 

As  we  have  said,  the  Americans,  generally,  kept  aloof  from 
the  manifestations  against  tho  Nuncio-apostolic,  as  the  Germans 
themselves  avowed.  Still,  Protestant  fanaticism,  dormant  since 
the  riots  of  1844,  was  aroused  by  the  anti-Catholic  ravings  of 
the  political  refugees  of  1848,  and  especially  by  the  envenomed 
preachings  of  Gavazzi ;  and  a  new  coalition  against  the  Catholics 


*  Archbishop  Bedini  had  engraved  at  Now  York,  in  1854,  a  copy  cf  tho 
Madonna  of  Rimini,  in  order  to  distribute  it  among  the  Catholics,  as  a  re- 
membrance of  his  misf^ion,  and  to  increase  devotion  to  tho  Blessed  Virgin. 
This  cntrraving  had  the  follow  ng  inscription,  with  tho  arms  of  the  noble 
prelate : 

To  the  Catholics 

Of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 

C.  Bedini,  Archbisliop  of  Thebes,  Apostolic  Nuncio, 

Edifled  and  Grateful, 

presents   this   picture 

of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  God. 

It  was  while  Archbishop  Bedini  was  pro-legate  at  Bologna  in  1850,  1851, 
that  the  Madonna  in  the  Church  of  Santa  Chiara,  at  Eimini,  several  times 
miraculously  moved  the  eyes. 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


621 


led  Trot- 
\»  of  tho 
le  repre- 
on  us  to 
hich  still 


loof  from 

1 

Germans 
ant  since 
Fivings  of 
enomed 
CatholicH 


jpy  cf  the 

as  a  re- 

jd  Virgin. 

tho  uoble 


]50,  1851, 
Iral  times 


was  formed  in  Am  shades  of  socret  oath-bound  clubs.  The  ene- 
mies of  nligioii,  known  ten  years  before  as  Nativca,  now  gave 
their  organization  a  new  name,  without  changing  its  character; 
and  the  Know-N(^things  soon  adopted  a  system  of  provocation  and 
outrage  against  the  Catholics.  The  name  they  chose  characterizes 
well  this  class  of  fanatics,  whose  ignorance  is  pitiable,  and  who, 
since  the  days  of  Luther,  have  learned  no  truths,  and  forgotten 
no  fable.  They  still  seek  to  celebrate  by  acts  of  Vandalism  tho 
emancipation  of  their  reason,  and  believe  that,  by  destroying 
churches,  they  will  destroy  Catholitnty.  Their  first  plan  was  to 
employ  mad  preachers  to  declaim  against  Popery  in  the  j)ublic 
streets  and  scpiares,  in  hopes  of  provoking  the  Catholics,  and  es- 
pecially tho  Irish  Catholics,  to  resent  their  insolence.  Then, 
after  the  precedent  of  1844,  they  rush  on  the  Catholics ;  the 
alarm  is  given,  the  conspirators  flock  together  from  all  sides, 
under  the  pretext  of  protecting  liberty  of  speech,  and  the  mob 
hurries  to  the  nearest  church,  already  marked  out  in  their  coun- 
cils for  the  vengeance  of  impiety. 

Tn  tlu  month  of  December,  18513,  tumultuous  meetings  took 
j>iace  at  New  York,  in  consequence  of  the  preaching  in  tho 
wrt^ts  of  a  porter  named  1'ar.sotis.  The  militia  were  called 
•out,  but  in  consequence  of  a  letter  from  Archbishop  Hughes, 
who  recommended  the  Catholics  to  keep  aloof  from  all  such 
gatherings,  no  collision  gratified  the  efforts  of  malice.  Sunday 
after  Sunday,  Parsons  thundered  away  against  the  Pope  and 
the  Church,  surrounded  by  an  armed  band.  Orr,  a  madman, 
■who  assumed  the  name  of  the  Angel  Gabriel,  and  whose  path  in 
Scotland  and  Guiana  may  be  traced  in  fire  and  blood,  next  fol- 
lowed the  same  course  ;  and  ere  long  preaching  in  the  open  air 
became  the  order  of  the  day  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  United 
States ;  and  although  the  Catholics  bore  these  insults  without  com- 
plaint, they  did  not,  withal,  escape  being  frequently  the  victims  of 
passions  excited  by  their  enemies.     On  the  -id  of  July,  1854,  a 


622 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


It: 


<<  ;    i 


(•    3 


furious  mob  rushed  on  the  church  of  Manchester,  in  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  destroyed  it  from  top  to  bottom.  The  riot 
Jasted  for  two  days,  and  all  the  houses  inhabited  by  Catholics 
suft'ered  more  or  less.  On  the  same  day,  and  in  the  same  State, 
the  church  of  Dorchester  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion,  the 
Know-Nothings  having  blown  it  up  with  powder.  On  the  8th 
of  July,  at  Bath,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  a  mob,  led  by  the  furi- 
ous Orr,  burst  in  the  church  doors ;  and  while  some  made  a  pile 
of  the  pulpit  and  altar,  others  climbed  the  steeple  and  tore  down 
the  cross.  Then  the  whole  church  was  reduced  to  ashes,  in  pres- 
ence of  a  considerable  crowd,  and  amid  the  exulting  cries  of  the 
sacrilegious  incendiaries.  A  year  after,  on  Sunday,  November 
18th,  1855,  the  Right  Rev.  David  W.  Bacon,  the  newly  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Portland,  attempted  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a 
new  church  on  the  site  of  that  destroyed,  but  the  people  would 
not  permit  it ;  a  mob  took  possession  of  the  place,  overthrew  all 
that  had  been  prepared  for  the  ceremony,  broke  the  crosses,  and 
beat  all  who  showed  any  disapprobation  of  their  conduct. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1854,  the  German  church  at  New- 
ark, in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  was  demolished  in  broad  day- 
light, by  an  Orange  procession  from  New  York,  on  the  pretext 
that  a  pistol  had  been  fired  on  the  procession  from  a  window  in 
the  church.  The  assertion  was  entirely  destitute  of  foundation, 
as  all  the  independent  papers  admitted,  and  as  the  judicial  in- 
vestigation proved.  The  Socialist  paper  of  New  York,  the 
Tribune,  on  this  occasion  observed  justly,  "  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, ''  u  while  five  or  six  Catholic  churches  in  this  country 
have  been  destroyed  or  ruined  by  an  excited  populace,  not  a  sin- 
gle Protestant  church  can  be  pointed  out  which  Catholics  have 
even  thought  of  attacking." 

The  procession  was  armed,  and,  in  firing  on  the  spectators, 
killed  several ;  but  even  this  could  not  provoke  any  breach  of 
the  peace  on  the  part  of  the  Catholics. 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


623 


New- 
d  day- 
n'etext 
low  in 
liition, 
al  in- 
,  the 
of  re- 
uutry 
a  sin- 
have 

|ators, 
[jh  of 


On  the  8th  of  November  in  the  same  year,  the  day  after  an 
e/ection,  in  which  the  Know-Nothings  had  ahnost  everywhere 
triumphed,  the  latter  celebrated  their  victory  by  attacking  a 
Catholic  church  at  Williamsburg,  near  New  York.  They  tore 
down  the  railing,  broke  in  the  doors,  and  carried  off  the  cross  in 
triumph  to  their  place  of  meeting.  Insult  to  the  symbol  of  our 
redemption,  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man,  is  indeed  the  noblest  of 
exploits  in  their  eyes.  The  military  arrived  just  as  they  were 
going  to  set  fire  to  the  church,  and  after  arresting  the  trustees 
and  such  Catholics  as  they  found,  protected  the  church  from 
ruin.  As  usual,  the  rioters  protended  that  they  had  been  pro- 
voked by  the  Catholics,  and  that  they  wished  to  avenge  the 
death  of  one  of  their  party  killed  during  the  election  ;  but  the 
inquest  proved  that  the  principal  author  of  the  troubles,  a  man 
named  Lee,  arrested  as  the  murderer,  was  an  Orangeman  spe- 
cially appointed  to  make  trouble. 

Thus  our  churches,  reared  at  the  expense  of  so  many  sacrifices 
and  liberal  alms,  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  first  miscreant ;  for  in 
not  one  single  instance  on  record  in  the  whole  United  States  of 
America  has  an  author  or  promoter  of  such  a  work  of  destruc- 
tion been  punished,  and  in  very  few  instances  has  even  the  mock- 
ery of  a  judicial  prosecution  been  adopted.  And  while  the  mob, 
unchecked  and  unpunished,  seeks  to  destroy  the  edifice,  the 
State  governments,  under  the  impulse  of  the  same  feeling,  pass 
laws  to  confiscate  all  the  property  held  by  the  Catholic  prelates 
and  clergy  for  pious  and  charitable  uses. 

But  the  fanaticism  is  not  content  with  destroying  the  church, 
or  seizing  the  property,  it  sought  also  to  intimidate  the  clergy ; 
and  two  events,  one  in  the  North  and  the  other  in  the  South,  ex- 
cited alarm  amid  the  Catholic  population. 

In  the  spring  of  1854,  Father  John  Bapst,  a  Jesuit,  and  pastor 
of  the  Catholics  at  Ellsworth  in  the  State  of  Maine,  asked  the 
ocnoolmasters  to  exempt  the  Catholic  children  from  reading  the 


B 


m 


:.«.! 


m 


^  ■  ; 


y 


521 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Protestant  version  of  the  Bible;  and  he  made  his  request  so 
mildly  that  the  teachers  conformed.  The  school-committee, 
however,  interfered,  and  ordered  the  teachers  to  make  the  Cath- 
olic children  read  the  Protestant  Bible  under  pain  of  expulsion. 
The  Catholics  appealed  to  the  competent  tribunal  to  establish 
their  rights,  and  this  step  so  exasperated  the  fanatics  against  Fa- 
ther Bapst,  that  the  town-meeting,  espousing  the  cause  of  the 
school-committee,  adopted  the  following  resolution,  inscribed  on 
the  records  of  the  town  on  the  8th  of  July,  1854: 

"  Whereas  we  have  reasons  to  believe  that  we  are  indebted  to 
one  John  Bapst,  S.  J.,  Catholic  priest,  for  the  luxury  of  the  pres- 
cut  lawsuit,  now  enjoyed  by  the  school-committee  of  Ellsworth, 
therefore 

"  Resolved^  That  should  the  said  Bapst  be  found  again  on  Ells- 
worth soil,  we  manifest  our  gratitude  for  his  kindly  interference 
with  our  free  schools  and  attempts  to  banish  the  Bible  therefrom, 
by  procuring  for  him  and  trying  on  an  entire  suit  of  new  clothes, 
Kuch  as  cannot  be  found  at  the  shop  of  any  tailor,  and  that  thus 
apparelled  he  be  presented  with  a  free  ticket  to  leave  Ellsworth 
upon  the  first  railroad  operation  that  may  go  into  eflfect." 

This  resolution,  welcomed  with  applause,  passed  without  a  dis- 
senting voice,  and  the  council,  far  from  blushing  at  the  act,  de- 
cided that  it  should  be  published  in  the  two  papers  of  the  place. 

Father  Bapst,  who  resides  at  Bangor,  went  to  Ellsworth  on 
Saturday,  the  14th  of  October,  to  celebrate  Mass  there  the  next 
day.  In  the  evening,  at  a  meeting  of  the  two  fire  companies  of 
Ellsworth,  it  was  proposed  and  adopted  to  put  in  execution  the 
resolution  of  the  council ;  and  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening 
the  mob  surrounded  the  house  of  Mr.  Kent,  whose  hospitality 
the  missionary  was  enjoying,  and  where  he  was  actually  hearing 
confessions.  Father  Bapst  was  dragged  out  of  the  house,  stripped 
of  his  clothes,  placed  on  a  rail,  and  borne  along  amid  the  taunts 
aud  insults  of  these  hellhounds,  till  the  rail  breaking  dashed  on 


IN  THE  UNITED    STATES. 


625 


squest  so 
mmittee, 
,he  Cath- 
ixpulsion. 
establish 
jainst  Fa- 
80  of  the 
ciibed  ou 

debtee!  to 

the  pres- 

Ellsworth, 

in  on  EUs- 
■tei'fereiico 
Lherefioni, 
w  clothes, 
that  thus 
Ellsworth 

L    11 

r* 

lout  a  dis- 

Le  act,  de- 

jhe  place. 

^orth  on 

the  next 

ipanies  of 

Ltion  the 

evening 

)spitality 

hearing 

stripped 

le  taunts 

ished  on 


the  ground  the  victim  of  this  outrage.*  Then  they  covered  his 
naked  body  with  melted  tar,  and  rolling  him  in  feathcis  left  him. 
"  It  would  be  impossible,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "  to  repeat  the 
horrible  blasphemies  and  indecencies  of  that  terrible  night ;  but 
all  that  the  imagination  can  conceive  short  of  absolute  mutilation 
and  bloodshed  was  accomplished  by  the  impious  wretches.  The 
outrage  lasted  two  hours,  a  cold  rain  falling  all  the  while." 

When  his  assailants,  weary  with  tormenting  him,  le^*  Father 
Bapst  amid  the  mud,  rain,  and  darkness,  he  dragged  himself 
alone  to  the  house  of  his  host,  and  spent  a  long  time  in  cleansing 
himself  from  the  filth,  tar,  and  feathers  with  which  he  had  been 
covered.  In  order  to  cahu  his  moral  and  physical  suffeiings, 
Mr.  Kent  pressed  him  to  take  some  food,  or  at  least  a  drink ;  but 
it  was  past  midnight,  and  the  heroic  priest,  who  had  come  to 
celebrate  Mass  on  Sunday,  preferred  to  bear  the  burning  thirst 
rather  than  break  his  fast.  "  Sitio,"  said  his  Divine  Master.  Fa- 
ther Bapst  spent  the  rest  of  the  night  sleepless,  in  the  most  vio- 
lent nervous  agitation,  but  in  the  morning  his  duties  as  a  pastor 
enabled  him  to  surmount  his  suffering,  and  at  the  usual  hour  he 
celebrated  Mass  before  the  horror-stricken  Catholics  of  Ells- 
worth.f 

The  outrage  excited  general  indignation  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  though  the  grand  jury  refused  to  prosecute  the  well- 
known  authors  of  this  horrid  wrong,  the  Know-Nothings  gener- 
ally felt  that  they  had  gone  too  far.  The  malefactors  had  robbed 
Father  Bapst  of  his  watch  and  purse.  The  Protestants  of  Ban- 
gor made  up  a  subscription  to  otier  the  Jesuit  a  beautiful  gold 


*  One  at  all  events  assumed  the  person  of  the  arch-fiend,  exclaiming :  "  So 
•we  treated  Jesus  Christ." 

t  Father  John  Bapst  was  born  at  La  Roche,  canton  of  Fribourg,  in  1815, 
and  was  brouglit  up  at  the  Jesuit  College  in  that  city.  There  too  he  entered 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  remained  till  1848,  when  he  was  sent  to  Maine. 
He  was  at  first  employed  on  the  Indian  missions,  and  then  stationed  at 
Bangor. 


S26 


THE   CATHOLIC   ClIUKCH 


I  i 


wntch,  and  accompanied  the  present  with  an  address,  in  which 
they  eloquently  protested  against  the  conduct  of  the  people  of 
Ellsworth. 

Some  months  after,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1855,  another  Jesuit, 
Father  F.  Nashon,  was  assaulted  near  Mobile  and  violently  beat- 
en ;  and  he  was  told  that  he  should  meet  a  similar  treatment  as 
often  as  he  should  attempt  to  go  and  say  Mass  in  the  village  of 
Dog  River  Factory. 

We  do  not  make  the  leaders  of  the  Know-Nothing  party  re- 
sponsible for  all  the  crimes  of  which  we  have  only  given  those 
of  the  blackest  dye.  But  when  men  preach  fanaticism,  we  can- 
not be  astonished  at  their  exciting  such  hatred ;  If  the  wind  is 
sown,  the  whirlwind  must  be  reaped.  Ere  long  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  their  secret  organization  enabled  the  plotters  to 
think  that  legal  means  would  suffice  to  check  the  onward  march 
of  Catholicity.  The  elections  of  November,  1854,  had  sent  to 
the  State  Assemblies  many  members  of  the  new  party.  Their 
influence  was  inimediately  felt,  and  in  the  month  of  March,  1855, 
the  New  York  Legislature  enacted,  as  we  have  elsewhere  shown, 
that  ivery  legacy  or  donation  for  pious  or  charitable  uses  should 
be  null  unless  made  to  a  body  of  trustees,  and  in  other  ways  em- 
barrassing the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy  in  canyiug  out  the 
discipline  of  the  Church.  In  some  cases  the  State  absolutely 
cofiscated  the  property,  unless  the  Catholics  would  submit  to  be 
Protestantized  to  suit  the  caprice  of  a  Calvinist  legislature. 

On  its  side,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  vt'hich  was  made 
up  to  a  considerable  extent  of  Protestant  ministers,  appointed  a 
committee  to  inspect  the  in  .  ior  of  the  convents ;  but  the  infa- 
mous conduct  of  this  committee,  and  the  examinations  to  wliich 
it  led,  covered  with  opprobrium  the  instigators  of  this  inquisito- 
rial measure.  In  their  visit  to  a  house  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame, 
at  Roxbury,  the  members  of  the  committee  acted  with  the  gross- 
est indecency  ;  in  the\i'  excursion  to  Lowell,  one  of  the  commit- 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


627 


1  wliicli 
eople  of 

r  Jesuit, 
tly  beat- 
tment  as 
illage  of 

party  re- 
en  those 
we  can- 
e  wind  is 
rapid  de- 
iotters  to 
id  march 
,d  sent  to 
Their 
[ch,  1855, 
•e  shown, 
;s  should 
tvays  em- 
out  the 
absolutely 
ait  to  be 
■e. 

as  made 
ointed  a 
he  infa- 
o  which 
Inquisito- 
le  I>ame, 
lie  (jross- 
Icomrait- 


tee  was  accompanied  by  a  loose  woman,  whose  expenses  he 
charged  to  the  v'^tate ;  and  these  very  fair  samples  of  Massachu- 
setts guardians  of  public  morals,  going  to  see  whether  any  dis- 
orders existed  in  Catholic  convents,  themselves  gave  every  ex- 
ample of  dishonesty  and  drbauchery.  The  whole  Know-Nothing 
party  blushed  at  the  dishonor  they  had  drawn  upon  themselves, 
and  to  satisfy  the  public  clamor  expelled  Mr.  Hiss,  one  of  their 
members,  making  him  the  scapegoat. 

Early  in  June,  1855,  a  National  Convention  of  Know-Nothings 
met  at  Philadelphia,  and  after  stormy  debates  published  its  party 
profession  of  faith.  This  document  abounds  in  common-places, 
such  as  telling  us  that  offices  are  made  for  men,  not  men  for 
offices.     The  following  are  the  articles  which  concern  Catholics: 

"VIII.  Resistance  to  the  aggressive  policy  and  corrupting 
tendencies  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  our  country  by  the 
advancement  to  all  political  stations — executive,  legislative,  ju- 
dicial, or  diplomatic — of  those  only  who  do  not  hold  civil  alle- 
giance, directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  foreign  power,  whether  ec- 
clesiastical or  civil,  and  who  are  Americans  by  birth,  education, 
and  training — thus  fulfilling  the  maxim,  '  Americans  only  shall 
govern  America.'  The  protection  of  all  citizens  in  the  legal  and 
proper  exercise  of  their  civil  and  religious  rights  and  privileges ; 
the  maintenance  of  the  right  of  every  man  to  full,  imrestrained, 
and  peaceful  enjoyment  of  his  own  religious  opinions  and  wor- 
ship, and  a  jealous  resistance  to  all  attempts  by  any  sect,  denom- 
ination, or  church  to  obtain  an  ascendency  over  any  other  in  the 
State,  by  means  of  any  special  privileges  or  exemptions,  by  any 
political  combination  of  its  members,  or  by  a  division  of  their 
civil  allegiance  with  any  foreign  power,  po'  .atate,  or  ecclesiastic. 

"  XL  The  education  of  the  youth  of  our  country  in  schools 
provided  by  the  State,  which  schools  shall  be  common  to  all, 
without  distinction  of  creed  or  party,  and  free  from  any  influence 
or  direction  of  a  denominational  or  partisan  character.     And  in- 


'      »• 


528 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUltCH 


asmuch  as  Christianity,  by  the  constitutions  of  nearly  all  the 
States,  hy  the  decisions  of  the  most  eminent  j-adicial  autliorities, 
and  by  the  consent  of  the  people  of  America,  is  considered  an 
element  of  our  political  system,  and  as  the  Holy  Bible  is  at  once 
the  source  of  Christianity  and  the  depository  and  fountain  of  all 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  -vvo  oppose  every  attempt  to  exclude 
it  from  the  schools  thus  established  in  the  States." 

The  articles  may  be  resumed  in  these  two  words :  "  In  the 
name  of  unfettered  liberty  of  worship,  Catholics  shall  be  excluded 
from  all  employments  and  their  cliildren  shall  be  compelled  to 
frequent  schools  where  oveiy  effort  shall  be  used  to  make  them 
Protestants."  All  understand  that  the  Know-Nothinijs  do  not 
believe  that  the  Pope  in  any  way  requires  the  obedience  of  the 
Catholics  of  the  United  States  in  matters  of  state.  But  this  con- 
spiracy would  not  dare  to  doom  any  class  of  citizens  to  civil  in- 
capacity, if  it  could  not  by  some  pretext  treat  them  as  subjects 
of  a  foreign  power.  On  this  plea  Catholics  are  adjudged  to  be 
royalists,  whose  participation  in  the  public  offices  would  compro- 
mise the  safety  of  the  Republic ;  and  every  measure  of  hostility 
against  them,  far  from  being  a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  be- 
comes a  meritorious  action  in  defence  of  liberty  !  On  such  prin- 
ciples, the  votary  of  the  most  degraded  sect  may  make  laws  for 
the  Republic ;  the  impostor  prophet  of  the  Mormons  may  be 
elected  President  and  transfer  his  seraglio  to  Washington,  but 
the  most  virtuous  Catholic  cannot  drive  a  hack. 

The  article  relative  to  education  presents  no  less  contradiction 
than  that  which  begins  by  excluding  Catholics  from  office,  and 
closes  by  promising  to  protect  all  citizens  in  their  civil  and  re- 
ligious rights.  They  wish  to  compel  all  children  to  frequent  the 
public  schools ;  they  declare  that  these  shall  have  no  religious 
character,  and  yet  they  insist  on  Living  read  there,  what  is  called 
and  is,  the  Protestant  version  of  the  Bible,  a  version  rejected  by 
Catholics  as  mutilated  and  corrupt.  They  wish  to  cart  the  rising 


, 


all  tlie 
Lorities, 
ircd  au 
at  onco 
11  of  all 
exclude 

'In  the 
ixcluded 
elled  to 
ke  tlicm 
i  do  not 
e  of  tlie 
this  con- 
civil  in- 
siibjects 
'ed  to  be 
conipro- 
,hostility 
tiou,  be- 
ch  prin- 
aws  for 
may  be 
[ton,  but 

ladiction 
ice,  an*.! 
and  re- 
lent the 
leligioua 
Is  called 
|cted  by 
rising 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


529 


generations  in  the  mould  of  the  State ;  they  hope  to  make  Prot- 
estants, but  in  fact  they  I'ear  infidels. 

This  solicitude  for  the  Bible,  this  enthusiasm  for  public  schools, 
this  pretended  dread  of  the  usurpations  of  Rome,  had  been,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  pretext  of  the  native  movement  of  1844  ;  and 
to  complete  the  resemblance  of  the  two  epochs,  the  Louisville 
riots  are  a  companion-picture  to  those  of  Philadelphia.  Already 
had  the  St.  Louis  elections  of  1854,  closed  by  a  slaughter  of 
adopted  citizens ;  but  the  events  at  Louisville  were  still  more 
deplorable.  On  the  Gth  of  August,  1855,  at  the  occasion  of  the 
elections,  tlie  Know-Nothings  rushed  on  the  Catholics,  many 
houses  were  burned  or  pillaged,  more  than  twenty  persons  per- 
ished, some  in  the  flames,  others  beneath  the  murderous  hand  of 
the  assassin,  who  spared  not  even  women  or  children.  By  insin- 
uations worse  than  open  calumny  the  party  papers  pretended 
that  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  even  the  Bishop,  excited  the  faith- 
ful to  acts  of  violence.  The  mob  advanced  on  the  Cathedral, 
threatening  to  set  it  on  firo,  under  pretence  that  the  Catholics 
had  amassed  arms  there.  At  this  juncture  Bishop  Spalding  con- 
fided the  keys  of  hi^  ithedral  to  the  Mayor,  who  was  notoriously 
a  Kuow-Nothing,  and  he,  alarmed  at  the  responsibility  thrown 
upon  him,  calmed  the  rioters. 

Such  is  the  great  anti-Catholic  movement  of  1853-6  ;  and  we 
see  how  fearfully  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  has  unread  within  the 
last  thirty  years,  fanned  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  joint  insti- 
gators of  religious  hatred.  The  destruction  of  the  Ursuline  con- 
vent at  Charlestown  in  1834  was  universally  condemned ;  the 
culprits  were  arraigned  and  a  trial  conducted  with  considerable 
fairness,  although  the  jury  acquitted  the  offenders.  In  the  Na- 
tive movement  ten  years  later,  churches  and  private  dwellings 
were  destroyed  at  Philadelphia,  but  here  too  the  city  by  making 
good  the  loss  at  least  in  part  condemned  the  act,  as  it  had  sought 
by  troops  to  quell  the  riot.     But  when  after  the  lapse  of  another 

2S 


530 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


decade,  the  feeling  evinces  itself  by  overt  acts,  it  is  not  in  one 
place,  but  in  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  country;  it  is 
in  the  mob  and  the  legislature ;  in  the  fire  company  and  the 
iuiiitia;  in  the  bar  and  the  bench.  The  church  destioyed,  the 
priest  a  martyr,  the  Nuncio  of  His  Holiness  all  but  assassinated; 
the  convent  violated  ;  the  jury-box  perjured  to  acquit  the  guilty  ; 
the  legislature  framing  laws  to  seize  the  Catholic  property ;  the 
general  government  officially  insulting  the  first  representative  of 
the  Holy  See ; — the  picture  is  a  sad  but  a  tiue  one.  As  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  who  as  the  Bishop  of  all  Catholic  Bishops, 
feels  for  his  persecuted  spiritual  children  and  cannot  address  the 
State  governments  which  have  no  external  existence  as  sovereign 
States,  he  well  addresses  to  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  person  of  the  President,  a  prayer  for  their  relief. 
"  Inasmuch  as  we  have  been  intrusted  by  Divine  commission  with 
the  care  of  the  Lord'a  flock  throughout  the  world,  we  cannot  al- 
low this  opportunity  to  pass  without  earnestly  entreating  you  to 
extend  your  protection  to  the  Catholics  inhabiting  those  regions, 
and  to  shifcM  them  at  all  times  with  yuur  power  and  authority." 


not  in  one 
intry;  it  is 
ny  and  the 
itioved,  tlio 
siissiniitetl ; 
the  guilty ; 
perty ;  the 
entiitive  of 
3.     As  the 
ic  Bishops, 
iddress  the 
i*  sovereign 
the  United 
their  relief, 
ission  with 

cannot  al- 
ng  you  to 
se  regions, 
uthority." 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


531 


CONCLUSIOJ^. 

<"^  Acs  «l,ich  l,„ve  been  (muZtT,  "''''  "'"'  "'«  «"- 

o^r  wl,ich  wo  have  t.avot    ^T'    "  '■'="°''*^'  ""  "■-  Acid 
Jn  the  poriion  pl„„ied  i,v  Frn,™  ...  i  c    • 

f«ble,  and  f„„„,  absc-bodTn    X  ,  "   ,^"' '''°^^  -'""-  "c-e 

»'"'ggle  for  oxtaonoo;  ponal  l!«f,  """•"  "^"'^"''"'y  ''"d  to 

•he  lai,y  of  civil  righ,  .Cd  etr,.  ""^r  ""  "'"'S-"'  ^'P'^-d 
'0  >he  rank  of  tbot^o  L  \°  r^'  '^'''y^  'educing  ,,i.„ 
'«d  of  Catbolicity,  which  ,i„L  7°'""°"  "'^S""  in  a  ha- 

g-e  s„„,e  of  the  t„  oonsS  on  'tlT'^  "'^  "^  <^^°"«'-  and 
erance,  eventuated  however  in'  „  '  V"^  "'  '''''S''^"^  ""ol- 
g-e..a,  government  disavoVi:;:":!  7  ^""'^  "'■  "«"-- 
'el.g,on,  profe^i„g  to  treat  all  c^el'o  "™.''"  "'^'*"  "^ 

«»f  day  actually  „ati„„  tkkT^l°"  'T"""  *«»'"«.  «"d  in 
States  to  do  the  same-a^d  v  *  ^  "'  '"'  "'S^'S  European 
--3  bavin,  exclusive  Tuthl:  tv  Ir:,:;''''  '""'  ^"™- 
State  churchee,  others  with  di„W'      ,  '""'"'  """«  '"'h 

»^---.  doctrine,  .aw;';eir;:|,l-;£-  '"e  follower 


1 


ll 


532 


THE   CATHOLIC   ClIL'llClI 


Still  tlie  impulse  had  boon  given ;  through  the  iiifluerico  of 
Catholic  Fiance,  Cntholieity  in  America  was  free.  In  what 
foiined  the  United  States  in  178H  there  were  in  the  Atlantic 
colonies,  chietly  ^faryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  about 
forty-five  thousand  Cuthulies;  in  the  'tiorthwest  and  in  Illinois 
ten  thousand  more.*  Louisiana,  Hince  admitted  into  the  Union, 
had  then  a  population  of  fifteen  thousand  ;t  Florida,  Texas,J  New- 
Mexico,  and  California  at  least  ten  thousand  more.  The  do- 
Bcendants  of  these  widely  sepaiated  Catholics  form  at  the  present 
day  one  portion  of  the  faithful  in  the  United  States,  and  if  they 
have  multiplied  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  rest  of  the  people, 
must  now  be  represented  by  500,000.§ 

Another  source  of  addition  to  the  number  of  Catholics  lias 
been  emigration,  first  from  Ireland  and  latteily  from  Germany ; 
it  came  slowly  at  first,  but  for  some  years  became  a  tide  impar- 
alleled  in  history.  The  first  Irish  emigrants  were  chiefly  Prot- 
estant't,  ihe  later  however  Catholics,  while  the  Germans  are  about 
equady  divided.  The  churches  in  the  North  and  East  were  at 
first  almost  composed  of  Irish  Catholics;  at  this  time  they  and 
their  descendants  form  the  mass  of  the  faithful.  Of  the  total 
immigration  and  its  increase,  one  half,  or  2,750,000,  may  be 


*  Including  Catholic  Indians  in  Maine,  New  York,  and  Ohio. 

+  Gayarr(5. 

X  Texas  in  1778,  according  to  Fatlicr  Morfl,  contained  8103  souls. 

§  Miilthns  supposes  a  people  to  quadruple  by  natural  propagation  in  90 
years;  but  we  know  that  in  Canada  65,000  French  in  1763  are  now  repre- 
isented  by  over  700,000,  which  is  more  than  decupling.  But  as  the  Americans 
are  less  prolific,  we  have  taken  seven  as  the  medium,  and  tins  tallies  exactly 
with  the  present  population.  Tlie  United  States  at  the  peace 
contained  three  millions,  which  septupled  would  give 21,000,000 

Emigration  has  since  given  three  and  a  half  millions,  but  as 
this  has  been  chiefly  within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  more 
than  that  is  needed  to  double,  we  will  allow  for  its  increase  two 
millions 6,500,000 

Population  of  the  United  States  in  1856  by  this  calculation, 

and  in  fact - - 20,500,000 


' 


ucuce  of 
In  what 
Atlantic 
a,   about 
1  Illinois 
le  Union, 
cas,t  New 
The  do- 
le present 
d  if  they 
[le  people, 

holies  has 
Germany ; 
ide  unpar- 
iefly  Trot- 
i  are  about 
ist  were  at 
.  they  and 
f  the  total 
may  be 


Ration  in  90 
now  repre- 
Ainericans 

lllios  exitctly 

21,000,000 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


533 


claimed  as  Catholic,  which  will  give  a«  the  whole  number  of  tho 
children  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  abi»ut  three  and  a 
half  millions,  which  is  the  estimate  actually  f(jrmcd  by  the  illus- 
trious Archbishop  of  New  York  in  a  recent  lecture.* 

This  immigration  came  without  its  proportionate  number  of 
piicsts ;  many  of  the  immigrants  were  ignorant,  others  careless, 
others  in  time  ashamed  of  their  religion,  and  as  the  lecture  truly 
declares,  "hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  descendants  of  the  Cath- 
olic immigrants  have  fallen  away  from  their  religion." 

But  while  such  a  loss  took  place  when  churches  and  priests 
were  few ;  when  Catholic  schools,  academies,  and  colleges  were 
unknown  ;  when  the  Protestant  poorhouso  or  asylum  was  the 
only  refuge  of  the  helpless  Catholic,  such  is  no  longer  the  case, 
except  in  the  densely  crowded  cities  of  the  Atlantic  shore.  Still 
Catholicity  lost  many  by  these  defections ;  and  the  calculations 
would  show  this  strikingly,  had  not  the  loss  of  some  been  made 
up,  as  it  ever  is  in  God's  providence,  by  the  vocation  of  others. 
Just  as  at  the  Reformation, 

"  India  rcpair'd  half  Europe's  loss," 

SO  in  the  United  States  in  many  ways,  by  his  duly  appointed 
ministers,  by  the  paths  of  learning  and  study,  by  the  imconscious 
layman,  nay  even  by  the  violence  of  the  enemies  of  the  Church, 
God  in  liis  mercy  has  brought  many  to  the  faith.  These  con- 
versions, of  which  the  remarkable  ones  alone  are  chronicled,  have 
been  and  continue  to  be  very  numerous,  few  clergymen  on  the 
mission  being  deprived  of  the  consolation  of  receiving  some  every 
year,  and  one  great  movement  having,  as  we  show,  given  to  the 
cause  of  truth  the  noblest  and  purest  of  the  clei'gy  and  laity  of 
the  Episcopal  Church. 


6,500,000 
20,500,000 


*  Present  Condition  and  Proapecta  of  tlie  Catliolic  Church  in  tlio  United 
States,  delivered  be  fore  the  Young  Catholic's  Friend  Society  of  Baltimore, 
January  17,  1856. 


p 

n 

1      ; 

1 

(      i 

' 

! 

1 

I' I  i 


684 


THE  CATnOLIC  CHURCn 


Sucli  nre  the  component  pfti'ts  of  the  Cutholic  body  now  blend- 
ed into  one  liarnioiiions  vliolc. 

And  what  has  been  its  pr<»<:ficRs!  From  the  time  when  lea- 
ther Carroll  as  newly  appoiiiteil  bishttp  n-ccivi'd  petitions  from 
his  Indian  (;Iiii(h'en  in  Maine,  the  fow  CatliolicH  nt  Hoston  and 
New  York,  the  Fiench  at  Caliokia,  down  to  our  day,  when  seven 
archbishopR  and  thirty-five  bishops  govern  the  wide-spread 
Church,  when  in  two  thousand  cliurches  and  stations  the  holy 
sacrifice  is  reguhirly  ofl'crcd,  and  almost  every  existing  religious 
order  in  the  Church  has  euinmunitios  here  ministering  to  the 
Boul  and  body,  nursing  vocations  to  the  sanctuary  and  cloister 
amid  a  people  absorbed  above  all  others  in  the  cares  and  turmoil 
of  life. 

Catholicity  in  America  has  its  literature,  its  organs,  whose 
power  is  felt,  felt  so  much  that  it  is  all  on  the  part  of  the  Prot- 
estants carefully  avoided.  In  every  department  their  power  is 
acknowledged :  Brownson,  a  philosopher  of  extraordinary  abil- 
ity, has  for  years  in  his  Review  handled  every  question  of  vital 
interest  with  skilful  learning  and  the  depth  of  genius;  Arch- 
bishops Kenrick  and  Hughes,  Bishops  England,  Spalding,  and 
O'Connor,  amid  their  laborious  duties  have  defended  the 
Catholic  cause,  and  given  to  Catholic  doctrines  that  lucid 
explanation  which  leaves  the  maligner  no  ground  for  a  pre- 
text of  ignorance ;  w  hile  the  Rev.  Doctors  White  and  Pise  in 
periodicals,  and  the  talented  converts  McMasters,  Huntington, 
Major,  Rosecrantz,  and  Chandler  in  the  editorial  chair,  have 
given  the  Catholics  able  organs  to  refute  the  calumnies  daily 
raised  against  them,  and  to  expose  mendacity  to  the  woild. 
All  these  too,  and  others  whose  names  might  be  added,  by  le«- 
tures  in  vaiious  parts  of  the  country  give  solid  instruction  and 
pleasing  entertainment,  which  is  evidently  appreciated. 

A  culminating  point  seems  to  have  aiTived.  Tiie  great  immi- 
gration has  ceased  for  a  time,  and  that  time  is  precious  to  organ* 


w 


bletid- 


vlicn  Fa- 
una from 
)eton  ami 
len  sovcn 
ilc-spread 
the  holy 
religious 
ig  to  the 
k1  cloister 
id  turmoil 

119,  whose 
the  Trot- 
power  is 
nary  abil- 
of  vital 
;    Arch- 
ing, and 
ded    the 
lat  lucid 
)r   a  pic- 
Pise  ill 
ntington, 
air,    have 
ies  daily 
10    world. 
.1,  by  lc«- 
clion  and 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


585 


izc  and  form  the  Catholic  congregationH  already  existing,  and  sco 
that  the  body  now  sustain  none  of  the  losses  which  poverty  foi- 
incijy  made  unavoidahle. 

"What  then,"  a^k8  the  iliustiious  Archbishop  of  New  Yoik, 
"what  is  the  prospect  with  rcgaid  to  ti»e  Catholic  religion?  The 
prospect  is,  that  it  is  going  on  incieasing  by  the  medium  of  Cath- 
olics born  in  this  countiy.  'I  !ir  prospect  with  superior  advan- 
tages, and  the  benefits  of  i  struction  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  piesonce  of  priests  looking  to  s])iiituul  interes's, 
is  that  Catholics  will  instil  into  their  ('.'scendants  the  knowledge 
of  their  religion,  and  the  les^ons  of  .iitue  w  ich  tli.'y  have  re- 
ceived, and  which  they  piize  moic  than  li*>  And  this  religion 
will  extend,  not  by  miraculouB  means,  but  will  hold  it .  own  fiom 
the  monicnt  that  imihigratiop  dinn  iif.'Ss.  It  will  noi  lapse  and 
iall  away  into  indifference,  much  le&ci  into  infidelity." 


;at  inimi- 
(to  organ- 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

BULL  OF  niS  HOLINESS  POPE  PTUS  VI.,  CONSTITUTIIn'G  THE 
NEW  SEE  OF  BALTIMORE.* 


FOR  THE  PERPETUAL  MEMORY  OF  THE  THING. 

When,  from  the  eminence  of  our  npoatolical  station,  we  bend  our  attention 
to  tlie  different  regions  of  the  earth,  in  order  to  fulfil,  to  the  utmost  extent 
of  our  power,  the  duty  which  our  Lord  has  imposed  upon  our  un  worthiness, 
of  ruling  and  feeding  hia  flock  ;  our  care  and  solicitude  are  particularly  en- 
gaged, that  the  faithful  of  Christ,  who,  dispersed  through  various  provinces, 
are  united  with  us  by  Catholic  communion,  may  be  governed  by  their  proper 
pastors,  and  diligently  instructed  by  them  in  the  discipline  of  evangelical 
life  and  doctrine.  For  it  is  our  principle,  tliat  they,  who  relying  on  the  Di- 
vine assistance,  have  regulated  their  lives  and  manners,  agreeably  to  the 
precepts  of  Christian  wisdom,  ought  so  to  command  their  own  passions,  as 
to  promote,  by  the  pursuit  of  justice,  their  own  and  their  neighbor's  spiritual 
advantage ;  and  that  they,  who  luvve  received  from  their  bishops,  and,  by 
checking  the  intemperance  of  self-wisdom,  have  steadily  adhered  to  the 
heavenly  doctrine  delivered  by  Christ  to  the  Catholic  Church,  should  not  be 
carried  away  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  ;  but,  grounded  on  tin  aulliority  of 
Divine  revelation,  should  reject  the  new  and  varying  doctriuci  of  men, 
which  endanger  the  tranquillity  of  government— and  rest  in  tlio  unchange- 
able faith  of  the  Catholic  Church.  For  in  the  present  degeneracy  of  corrupt 
manners,  into  which  human  nature,  ever  resisting  the  f  weet  yoke  of  Christ, 
is  hurried,  and  in  the  pride  of  talents  and  knowledge,  which  disdains  to 
submit  the  opinions  and  dreams  of  men  to  the  evangelical  truth  delivered 
by  Jesus  Clirist,  support  must  be  given  by  that  heavenly  authority,  whiclx 
is  intrusted  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  to  a  steady  pillar  and  solid  founda- 
tion, which  shall  never  fail,  that  from  her  voice  and  instructions,  mankind 
may  learn  the  objects  of  their  faith  and  the  rules  of  their  conduct,  not  only 
for  the  obtaining  of  eternal  salvation,  but  also  for  the  regulation  of  thia  Ufa 


•  From  thp  Short  Account  of  the  estfiblishment  of  tlio  new  See  of  Baltimore.  In  Mary- 
land. Hiid  of  cunaecratitig  the  lit.  Buv.  Jubu  Carroll  first  Bishop  tbereoC  Philadelphia, 
1791,  page  11. 


|i '  1.1! 


J 


540 


APPENDIX. 


nnd  the  nin'mtniiiiiifT  of  wmcoril  in  tlic  society  of  tiii!*  enrtlily  city.  Now  fliis 
V'har.ijo  of  tcacliiiitr  and  niliiiir,  tirst  jziven  to  tiic  apostles,  ami  especially  to 
St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  tiie  apo^ties,  on  whom  alone  tlie  (.'linrcli  is  built,  and 
to  whom  our  Loril  and  IJedecnicr  intni.-ted  the  fcedinijr  of  his  land)s  and  of 
Ills  sheep,  has  been  derived,  in  due  order  of  sncccssion,  to  ]jislioi)s,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  Konian  Pontilts,  successors  of  St.  Peter  and  heirs  of  his  power 
and  dijjrnity,  thut  thereby  it  might  be  nuule  evident,  that  the  t:ates  of  hell 
can  never  prevail  against  t!ie  Churcli,  nnd  that  the  Divijie  Founder  of  it  will 
over  assist  it  to  the  consuinniiition  of  ages,  bo  that  neither  in  the  depravity 
of  morals,  nor  iii  the  fluctuation  of  novel  ojiinions,  the  episcopal  succession 
fihall  ever  fail,  or  the  bark  of  Peter  be  sunk.  Wherefore  it  having  reached 
our  ears,  that  in  the  flourisliing  commonwealth  of  the  Thirteen  American 
States,  many  I'aitliful  Christians,  united  in  coinnuinion  with  the  chair  of  Pe- 
ter, in  which  the  centre  of  Cath.olic  unity  is  !i.\eii,  and  governed  in  their 
spiritual  concerns  by  their  own  priests  having  care  of  souls,  earnestly  desire 
that  a  Bishop  may  be  appointed  over  them,  to  exercise  the  functions  of  epis- 
copal order,  to  feed  them  more  largely  with  the  food  of  salutary  doctrine, 
and  to  guard  more  carefully  that  portion  of  the  Catholic  flock  ;  we  willingly 
embraced  this  opportunity,  which  the  grace  of  Almighty  Cod  has  afforded 
us,  to  provide  those  distant  regions  with  the  comfort  and  ministry  of  a 
Catholic  IVishop.  And  that  this  might  bo  eHcctod  more  successfully  iind  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  sacied  canons,  we  commissioned  our  venerable 
brethren,  the  Cardinals  of  the  Holy  Koman  Church,  directors  of  the  Congre- 
gation de  pro/toffcindd  Jide,  to  nv.iui\<xii  this  business  with  the  greatest  care, 
nnd  to  make  a  report  to  us.  It  was  thcrclbre  appointed  by  their  decree,  ap- 
proved by  us,  and  published  the  twelfth  day  of  Jidy,  of  the  last  year,  tiuit 
the  priests  who  lawt'ully  exercise  the  sacred  ministry,  ami  have  care  of  souls, 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  should  be  empowered  to  advise  together, 
and  to  determine,  first,  in  what  town  the  episcopal  See  ought  to  be  erected ; 
and  next,  who  of  the  aforesaid  jiriests  appeared  the  most  wiirtliy  and  proper 
to  be  promoted  to  this  important  charge,  whom  we,  for  this  first  time  only, 
and  by  special  grace,  permitted  the  said  priests  to  elect  and  to  present  to 
this  apostolical  See.  In  obedience  to  this  decree,  the  aforesaid  priests,  exer- 
cising the  cure  of  souls,  in  he  United  States  of  America,  unanimously 
agreed,  that  a  IMsliop  with  ordinary  jurisdiction  ought  to  he  established  in 
the  town  of  Baltimore  ;  because  this  town,  situate  in  Maryland,  which  prov- 
ince the  greater  part  of  the  priests  and  of  the  faithful  inhabit,  appeared  the 
most  conveniently  placed  for  intercourse  with  the  otlier  States,  nnd  because 
from  this  province  Catholic  religion  and  faith  had  been  propagated  into  the 
others.  And  at  the  time  appointed  for  the  election,  they  laeing  assembled 
together,  the  sacrifice  of  holy  mass  being  celebrated,  nnd  the  grace  nnd  as- 
sistance of  the  Holy  (Thost  being  implored,  the  votes  of  all  present  were  ta- 
ken, and  of  twenty  six  priests  who  were  assembled,  twenty-four  gave  their 
votes  for  our  beloved  son  John  Carroll,  wliom  they  judged  the  most  proper 
to  support  the  burden  of  episcopacy ;  and  sent  an  autheptic  instrument  of 
the  whole  transaction  to  the  aforesaid  Congregation  of  Cardinals.  >i0w  all 
things  being  maturely  weighed  and  considered  in  this  Congregation,  it  was 


I 


APPENDIX. 


641 


ap. 


, 


easily  agreed,  that  the  interests  and  increase  of  Catholic  religion  wonld  ba 
greatly  promoted,  if  an  episcopal  See  were  erected  at  Baltimore,  and  the  said 
John  Carroll  were  appointed  the  Bishop  of  it.  AVo,  therefore  (_to  whom  thia 
opinion  has  been  reported  by  our  beloved  son.  Cardinal  Antonclli,  prefect  of 
the  said  Congregation,  having  notliing  more  at  heart,  than  to  insure  success 
to  whatever  tends  to  the  propagation  of  true  religion  and  to  the  honor  and 
increase  of  the  Catholic  Church),  by  the  plenitude  of  our  apostolical  power, 
and  by  tlic  tenor  of  thci?e  presents,  do  establish  and  erect  the  aforesaid  town 
of  Baltimore  into  an  episcopal  See  forever,  for  one  Bishop  to  be  chosen  by 
us  in  all  future  vacancies;  and  we  therefore,  by  the  ajiostolical  authority 
aforesaid,  do  allow,  grant,  and  permit  to  the  Bisjiop  of  the  said  city,  and  to 
his  successors  in  all  future  times,  to  exercise  episcopal  power  and  jurisdic- 
tion, and  to  hold  and  enjoy  all  and  every  right  and  privilege  of  order  and 
jurisdiction,  and  of  every  other  episcopal  function,  which  Bishops,  constitu- 
ted in  other  places,  are  empowered  to  hold  and  enjoy  in  their  respective 
churches,  cities,  and  dioceses,  by  right,  custom,  or  by  other  means,  by  gen- 
eral iirivilcges,  graces,  indults,  and  apostolical  dispensations,  together  with 
all  pre-eminences,  honors,  immunities,  graces,  and  favors,  which  other ''a- 
thedral  Churches,  by  right  or  custom,  or  in  any  other  sort,  have,  liold,  and 
enjoy.  We  moreover  decree  and  declare  the  said  episcopal  See,  thus  erect- 
ed, to  be  subject  or  suffragan  to  no  metropolitan  right  or  jurisdiction,  but  to 
be  forever  subject  immediately  to  us  and  to  our  successors  the  Ronum  Pon- 
tilTs,  and  to  this  apostolical  See.  And  till  another  opport'jnity  shall  be  pre- 
sented to  us,  of  establishing  other  Catholic. Bishops  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  till  other  dispositions  shall  be  made  by  this  apo.stolical  See,  we 
declare,  by  our  apostolical  authority,  all  the  faitliful  of  Christ,  living  in 
Catholic  communion,  as  well  ecclesiastics  as  seculars,  and  all  the  clergy  and 
people  dwelling  in  the  aforesaid  United  States  of  America,  though  hitherto 
they  may  have  been  subject  to  other  Bishops  of  other  dioceses,  to  be  hence- 
forward subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  in  all  future  times  :  and  to  this 
Bishop,  and  to  his  successors,  we  impart  power  to  curb  and  check,  without 
appeal,  all  persons  who  may  contradict  or  oppose  their  ord,,rs ;  to  vi.iit  per- 
sonally or  by  deputies  all  Catholic  churches;  to  remove  abuses;  to  correct 
the  manners  of  the  faithful ;  and  t  ■  ^orform  all  things,  which  other  Bishops 
'n  their  respective  dioceses  are  aeeu  tomed  to  do  and  perform,  saving  in  all 
'hings  our  own  authority,  and  that  of  this  apostolical  See.  And,  whcicas, 
by  special  grant,  and  for  this  first  time  only,  we  have  allowed  the  priests, 
exercising  the  cure  of  souls  in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  elect  a  person 
to  be  appointed  Bishop  by  us,  and  almost  all  theii  votes  have  been  given  to 
nur  belov.  !  son,  John  Carroll,  Priest;  we  being  otherwise  certified  of  his 
faith,  prudence,  piety,  and  vil,  forasmuch  as  by  •"■,;  nandate  he  hath  da- 
ring the  late  years  directed  the  spiritual  governmetn  l  souls,  do  Ibereforo, 
by  the  plenitude  of  our  authority,  declare,  create,  i^-point,  and  cunstitute 
the  said  John  Carroll,  Bishop  and  pastor  of  the  said  chur>''b  if  Baltimore, 
granting  to  him  the  faculty  of  receiving  the  rite  of  conseci..,i  n  from  any 
Catholic  Bishop  holding  communion  with  the  apostolical  See,  assisted  by 
two  ecclesiastics,  vested  witii  some  dignity,  in  case  that  two  Bishops  cannot 


*f 


f 


542 


APPENDIX. 


be  had,  flrht  liaviriff  taken  the  usual  oath,  accorfT.nc^  to  t)ic  Roman  Pontiflcal. 
And  we  ooinmiBi>Jon  tlie  said  Bisliop  elect,  to  i^reot  a  cnnich  in  ^^lo  said  city 
of  Bultimfic,  in  form  of  a  Cathedral  chur':!i,  iuinnuch  at.  the  fiims  and  cir- 
cumstancei  may  allo\v,  to  institute  a  body  of  <l;i'.'y  depntod  to  Dl -ine  wor- 
ship, and  U  the  service  of  the  said  churcii,  nnd  moreover  to  (.;  v  .  'visli  an 
episcopal  seminary  either  in  the  sniie  city  (^r  a'se.v'i'.re,  ...  lie  .i),  i  judgfe 
rnoiii'.  expcdii>.'it,  to  administer  ecde  itistical  .noome^^,  and  to  ex^;cuti)  all  otl.er 
tliinurs,  which  he  shall  tiunk  .'ii  the  Lo'-d  to  \>v.  -expedient  for  the  increase  of 
Catiiolic  faitii  and  the  iu^iiijentution  of  the  -.vovship  and  splendor  of  the 
new-erected  churt'i.  Wc  m  '^over  enjoin  tlie  said  Bishop  to  obey  tlio  in- 
junctions of  our  iiuierable  bvttliren,  tlie  cardimi.o  directors  .  f  tiit  sacred 
congregation  riti  propaganda  fuU ,  to  i  ansm!;.  to  them,  at  proi'er  times,  a  re- 
lation of  his  visitutioi'  of  his  cii'.K  h,  and  tu  inkirni  them  of  all  thing's  which 
ho  sliiil!  judge  to  bo  useful  to  the  spiri'iml  good  and  ....  ution  oftiie  flock 
trusted  to  his  charge.  We  therefore  dcc:ree,  that  these  our  letters  are  and 
O'crbh'i;;  be  firm,  vdld,  and  efficacious,  aiul  sIjuU  obtain  their  full  and  eu- 
tJro  elicit,  and  be  observed  inviolably  by  all  persons  whom  it  now  doth  or 
lisr^,.  'uir  may  concern  ;  and  that  all  judges,  ordinary  and  delegated,  even 
iiudiiyu-  vif  causes  of  the  sacred  aposloiiciil  palace,  and  cardinals  of  the  Holy 
lie  ii.ui  01ui''cli,  !nust  tlius  judge  and  detine,  depriving  all  and  each  of  tliem 
cf  ill  power  and  authority  to  judge  or  interpret  in  any  otlier  manner,  and 
declaring  all  to  be  null  and  void,  if  any  ori*!,  by  any  authority,  should  pre- 
sume, either  knowingly  or  unknowingly,  to  attempt  any  thing  contrary 
thereunto.  Notwithstanding  all  apostolical,  ,i-.reneral,  or  special  constitutions 
and  ordinations,  published  in  universal,  provincial,  and  aynodical  councils, 
and  all  things  contrary  whatsoever. 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Mary  Major,  under  the  Fisherman's  King  (Seal), 

the  Hth  day  of  November,  1789,  and  in  the  15th  year  of  our  Poa- 

tiflcato. 

DUPLICATE. 

[L.S.3 

K,  CAED.  BKASCUI  ONESTI. 


II. 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  iroi-FATHERS  OF  THE  PROVIN- 
CIAL AND  PLENARY  COUNCILS. 

NOTES    ON    THE   MEMBERS    OF   THE    fc^YNOD    OF    1791. 

Jaraea  Pdlentz,  S,  J.,  V.  C.  for  the  whole  dioc  i  ,  born  in  Germany,  January 

19,  1727,  professed  in  17oC. 
James  Frt.mbach,  S.  J.,  born  in  Germany,  .'.       t.'y  6,  1723,  professed  in 

1760s  d!-^d  August,  1795. 
Robert .      rneux,  S.  J.,  V.  G.  of  the  So'-  k^^i..  iJsstilct,  born  at  Foruby,  Lau- 


APPENDIX. 


548 


are- 


cashiro,  June  24,  1738,  professed  November,  1757,  died  at  Georgetown, 
December  9,  1808. 

Francis  Antliony  Fleming,  V.  G.  of  the  Nortliern  District. 

Francis  Clinrles  Niitfot,  President  of  tlie  Scniinary  of  St.  Sulpice. 

Joiin  Asliton,  S.  J.,  born  in  Maryland,  May  24,  1748,  first  on  the  mission  in 
Yorkshire,  died  in  1814. 

Leonard  Nealo,  S.  J. 

Charles  Sewall,  S.  J.,  born  in  Maryland,  July  4,  1744,  sent  to  St.  Omcrs  in 
1758,  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1764,  died  November  10,  1806. 

Sylvester  Boannan,  born  in  Maryland,  entered  the  Society  in  1762.  "  With- 
out much  pretension  to  talents,  he  showed  himself  a  diliifent  and  pre- 
cious missionary  in  his  native  land,  where  God  called  him  to  Himself  in 
1797." 

■William  Ellinpr. 

James  Vanhutffel. 

Kobert  Plunket,  S.  J.,  born  in  England,  April  23,  1752,  entered  the  Society 
in  1769,  died  in  Maryland,  in  1815. 

Nicholas  Cerfoumont. 

Francis  Beeston. 

Lawrence  (or  Aloysius)  Gressel,  S.  J.,  died  1793. 

Joseph  Eden. 

Louis  Cresar  Delavau,  Canon  of  Tours. 

John  Tessier. 

Anthony  Gamier. 

John  Bolton,  S.  J.,  born  October  22,  1742,  entered  the  Society  in  1761,  sent 
soon  after  to  Maryland,  Pastor  of  St.  Joseph's,  Philadelphia,  in  1791,  died 
September  9,  1807. 

John  Thayer,  pastor  of  Boston,  died  at  Limerick,  February  5,  1815. 


n. 


FiEST  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimork. 

The  theologians  were — 
SESirNART. — 1.  Kev.  Louis  Deluol,  S.  S.  S.    Arrived  in  1817 ;  Professor  of 
Philosophy  and  Theology,  and  Superior;    returned  to  France  in  No- 
vember, 1849. 
S.  Kev.  Edward  Damphoux,  S.  S.  S.,  Chaplain  of  the  Carmelites  in  1856. 
ThtologUint  (^ Bishop  of  Bardstown — Kev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  now  Archbishop  of 

Baltimore. 
"  '•  CharUstonr-'RQv,  S.  Brute,  died  in  1839,  Bishop  of 

Vincennos. 
Cincinnati — Kev.  Mr.  De  Barth,  diod  in  1844. 
St.  Louis — Kev.  Aug.  Jeanjean. 
Boston — Kev.  Anthony  Blanc,  now  Archbishop  of 
New  Orleans. 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia — Kev.  Michael  Wheeler. 
MatUr  qf  Ceremonies — Kev.  JohnChanche,  died  in  1882,  Bishop  of  Natchez. 


« 

« 

<( 

t( 

41 

ii 

11 


pi 

l;l   '    ' 

' ';    1 

^ 


544  APPENDIX. 

Second  Council  of  B-vi-timoue  (1833).     See  p.  181-2. 

TiiiuD  Council  ok  Baltimore  (IBS'?). 
List  of  the  Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Council. 

Baltimc/re Most  Kev.  S.  Ecoleston,  Archbisliop. 

Eov.  John  J.  Cluuohe,  and  Kcv.  Poter  Schroibor,  Tho- 
olo^jiiuiH. 
St.  Louis Risjht  Rov.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop. 

Rev.  Regis  Loizol,  Tiiooloffiim. 
Boston Right  Rov.  B.  J.  Fouwick,  Bisliop. 

Rov.  Th.  J.  Miillcrly,  S.  J.,  Tiiooloffinn. 
Philadelphia Riglit  Rov.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Arath, 

Rov.  L.  do  Bartii,  Tlicologian. 
Cincinnati Riglit  Rev.  J.  B.  Purccli,  Bishop. 

Rev.  S.  T.  Badin,  Tiieologian. 
Bardstown Right  Rev.  Ign.  Ciuibrat,  Bisiiop  of  Balin,  Coadjutor. 

R'n'.  1.  A.  Reynolds,  Tiicologian. 

Riglit  Rev.  John  England. 
Cfharleston R'ght  Rev.  William  Clancoy,  Bishop  of  Orion,  Coad- 
jutor. 

Rev.  John  Hughes,  Theologian. 
Vincennes Right  Rev.  S.  (r.  Brute,  Bishop. 

Rov.  P.  R.  Kcnriek,  Tiieologian. 
New  Orleans Right  Rev.  Ant.  Blanc,  Bishop. 

Rov.  Aug.  Verot,  Theologian. 
l^ew  York Rev.  Felix  Vurela,  V.  G.,  Procurator. 

Rov.  T.  W.  McSherry,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  of  Mary- 
land. 

Rev.  S.  J.  Vcrhoegen,  S.  J.,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  of 
Missouri. 

Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol,  Second  Promotor. 

Rev.  Edward  Damphoux,  Secretary. 

Rev.  C.  J.  White,  Assistant  Secretary. 

Rev.  Fr.  Shaume,  and  Rev.  II.  Griffin,  Masters  of  Cere- 
monies. 

Rev.  John  Randanne,  and  Rev.  P.  Fredet,  Cantors. 

Eight  Rev.  John  Dubois,  Bishop  of  New  York.  Se 
Excusatum  haberi  rogavit. 


Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore  (1840). 
Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Council. 


Baltimort 


•  Most  Rev.  S.  Ecclcaton,  Arclibishop. 
Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol,  Rov.  .'    J,  Chanche,  and  Rev.  N. 
Kerney,  Theologians. 


Tll6- 


AITKNDIX. 


545 


tor. 


!^oad- 


of 


ire- 


Jiardstown Uiy:lit  IJcv,  1'..  Fliiirot,  Hishop. 

Kov.  S.  CliiizcHc,  S.  J.,  Tlu;()lo(,'iun. 
Charleston liicrlit  Kev.  J.  ICii^rliiiul,  IVisliop. 

Kciv.  .r.  I'owor,  ami  licv.  D.  .1.  Barry,  Tlicologiuim. 
St,  Louis Kij,',it  IJov.  J.  llosuti,  Bisliop. 

Kev.  J.  Lutz,  Tl'.eoloxiiiii. 
Boston  lli^rht  Kcv.  IJ.  J.  Fciiwick,  llir^Iiop. 

liev.  n.  B.  Coskcry,  TlicoloLrian. 

Mobile ]ii(,'lit  Kov.  M.  Tortior,  Bisliop. 

Philudelphia ]vi<,'lit  Kcv.  F.  F.  Keiirifk,  Adininistrutor. 

Rov.  M.  O'Connor,  Tlicolojrian. 
Cincinnati Ritrlit  Kov.  J.  B.  I'urcell,  Bishop. 

Kiiv.  J.  McEiroy,  S.  J.,  Theolugiua. 
New  Orleans Kii,'ht  Rev.  A.  Blanc,  Bishop. 

]?ev.  J.  Bouillier,  C.  M.,  Theologian. 
Dubuque Kiglit  Rev.  M.  Lorus,  Bisliop. 

Rev.  S.  Riiymond,  Theologian. 
Nashville Right  Rev.  R.  V.  AFiles,  Bishop. 

Rev.  B.  Buyer,  Theologian. 
Fincennes Right  Rev.  C.  R.  L.  de  la  llailandierc,  Bishop. 

Rev.  P.  P.  Lefe^'ere,  Theologian. 

Right  Rev,  0.  A.  M.  J.  de  Forbiu  .Tanson,  Bishop  of 

Nancy  (Frnnce). 
Rev.  \  .  Badin,  Theolo^■  \. 

V.Q.V,  C.  p.  Montgomery,  Pr^  f^uratc  of  the  Dominicans. 
Rev.  J.  Frost,  Superior  of  the  ivo'!     iptorists. 
Rev.  p.  Mori^'-tj ,  Superior  oft,  c  J  uTmita  of  St.  Augaa- 

tine. 

Rev.  J.  B.  L.  E.  Damphoux,  and  Rev.  C.  S.  White,  Soo-- 

retaries. 
Rov.  F.  Lliomme,  and  Rov.  J.  B.  Donolan,  Masters  of 

Cci  ■monies. 
Rev.  J.  B.  Rundannc,  onCi  Rev.  P.  Fredet,  Canton. 


Fifth  Council  of  BALTI^(f.         .o^^). 

Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Office)  s  of  the  Council. 

Baltimore Moat  Rev.  S.  Eccloston,  Archbishop. 

Rev.  a.  Raymond,  S.  T.  D.,  Rev.  P.  S.  Schrciber,  and 
Rev.  J.  Foy,  C.  S.  R.,  Theologians. 
Boston Right  Rev.  B.  J.  Fenwick,  Bishop. 

II.  B.  Coskery,  Theologian. 
Mobile Right  Rpv.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

T.  Ilickey  and  C.  Rainpon,  Theologians. 


W'     «iA 


5,  ■  > 


(    ii 


546  APPENDIX. 

Philaiielplda Ri<rlit  Kev.  F.  P,  Konrlolt,  Bishop. 

IJcv.  Tl).  llnvden,  Tlu'olojriiia. 
Olncinruiti Kisrlit  Hev.  J.  B.  I'lirooll,  BUliop. 

Hev.  T.  Ileniii,  Tlieolouriun. 
jUi'  i'"'' Uiu'lit  Hi'v.  fi.  .1.  (Jliiihr.it,  CoiKljntor. 

Kov.  J.  B.  RiiiKlmiio,  Tliool(),'ian. 
I\ew  Orleans lliarlit  ilcv.  A.  Bluiio,  Bi;*liop. 

Kcv.  A.  Verot,  Tlicoln^iun. 
Duhuquf Ri'^'ht  H<n'.  M.  Lonis,  Bishop. 

Kov.  S.  Mazzuc'liolli,  0.  P.,  Theologian. 
New  York V  '     "ov.  J.  IIii-'lics,  Bishop. 

ji.ev.  A.  PcMuo,  C.  M.,  Tlicolo^inn. 
JVashville Hifcht  Rev.  R.  P.  Miles,  Bisliop. 

Kev.  K.  H.  Pozzo,  O.  P.,  Theologian. 
Vincennea Kisjlit  Rev.  dc  In  Iliiiliindi^re,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  S.  Donajrhoe,  Tiieolozinn. 
Natchez Rigiit  Rev.  J.  J.  Clmnche,  Bisliop. 

Kcv.  J.  Ltmcastor,  Tlieolo.'iuii. 
Richmond Riglit  Rev.  R.  C.  Whelan,  Bishop. 

Rev.  S.  Ryder,  S.  J.,  Thooloirian. 
Detroit Rii^bt  Rev.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Administrator. 

Kev.  (■.  Hammer,  Theolof^ian. 
St.  Louis RiKlit  Rev.  1*.  R.  Keiirick,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  S.  B.  Toriiatore,  C,  M.,  Theologian. 
2'«xa8 Rij,'ht  Rev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Vi.    r-apostoUc. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Gildea,  Theologian. 
CharUitton Kev.  R.  S.  Baker,  V'ioar-general,  Administrator. 

Rev.  P.  Lynch,  S.  T.  D.,  Theoloorian. 

Rev.  L.  K.  Deluol,  S.  T.  D.,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice. 

Rev.  J,  Timon,  Superior  of  tlio  Congregation  of  the 

Mission. 
Rev.  J\  J.  Verhoeoren,  S.  J.,  Provincial  of  Mis'souri. 
Kev.  P.  Moriarty,  Com.-general  of  the  Hermits  of  St. 

AugusJne. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Damphoux,  and  Rev.  C.  I.  White,  Secre- 
taries. 
Fov.  F.  Lhomme,  Master  of  Ceremonies. 
i<ev.  T.  Foley,  and  Kcv.  O.  Jenkins,  Assistants. 
Rev.  W.  Blenkinroy,  and  Kev.  G.  D.  Parsons,  Cantors. 


Balti,imre. 


^IXTH    COCNCIL   OF    BALTIMORE    (1846). 

•J,  T  •iologians,  and  Oj/icers  of  the  Council. 

...Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  Archbishop. 

Kev.  Gilb.  Raymond,  S.  T.  D.,  Kev.  H.  B.  Coskery,  and 
Rev.  C.  1.  White,  Theologians. 


),  Secre- 


Cantors. 


APrENDIX. 

JUohih '. ■Ricrlif  V.i'v.  M.  Porticr.  P/isliop. 

Hev.  A.  T.  Klder,  Tlieolov'ian. 
I'hiUtdHphia IJiifbt  Hi'v.  F.  1*.  Kciirick,  lJir«Iinp. 

Kcv.  J.  B.  Toriiatorc,  TlicolnLriuu. 
Cincinnati Kii,'lit  Hev.  .1.  15.  Pnriell,  Hislioi). 

Kev.  K.  T.  CdlliiiH,  Tlu-oloirinn. 
Lomaville Riplit  Kcv.  G.  J.  Cliabrat,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  M.  J.  Spaldintr,  S.  T.  I).,  Theologian. 
New  Orleam Uijjlit  Hcv.  A.  lilanc,  Uisliop. 

Kcv.  A.  Verot,  TliooloL'ian, 
Dubuque . .  Hi-rlit  IJev.  M,  l.oras,  Hisliop. 

Kev,  M.  Mc'Aloor,  Tlicoloiriun. 
Kew  York Rijjrlit  Kev.  J.  llii'.'lics,  Hi^liop. 

Kififlit  Kov.  J.  McCloskcy,  Coudjntor. 

Rov.  F.  Varcla  and  Kcv.  J.  Mct'allVoy,  Tlici 
Kashiille Rijrlit  Kcv.  K.  I'.  MiliT,  liisliop. 

Kcv.  C.  J.  Carter,  Tlicolnurinn. 
Vincennes Ki^jrlit  Kov.  do  hi  nailaiidiL-re,  Bishop. 

Kev.  J.  B.  Kan(hinne,  Tiicolo<rian. 
dutches Kij^lit  I!ev.  J.  J.  (Jlianclio,  Bi.'^Iiop. 

Kov.  .1.  B.  Saint  Germain,  Tiieolo;,'ian. 
Richmond Kiu'lit  Kov.  K.  V.  VViielaii,  Ui«iiop. 

Kev.  II.  Tappcrt,  C.  SS.  K.,  Tlieolov'ian. 
Detroit Kiglit  Kev.  P.  P.  Lcfevere,  AdniiiiiBtrutor. 

Eev.  C.  C.  Piwe,  Tiieoloirian. 
Ht.  Louis Rijrlit  Kev.  P.  K.  Kenrick,  Bishop. 

Kev.  J.  .Meiolicr,  Tiieolofjriaii. 
Texas Kijjrlit  Rev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Vicar-apostollo. 

Rev.  J.  Dohin,  Theolojiian. 
Pittsburg Rijrlit  Kev.  M.  O'Connor,  Bishop. 

Kev.  T.  Hoyden,  Thcolo<rian. 
Little  Rock Rigiit  Rov.  A.  F>yrne,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Corry,  Theologian. 
Chicago ''ight  Rev.  W.  Quarter,  Bishop. 

Rev,  O.  L.  Jenkins,  Theologian. 
Hartford Right  Rev.  W.  Tyler,  Bishop. 

Kev.  E.  McColguii.  Theologian. 
Charleston Right  Rev.  I.  A.  l:;c\  joKls,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Barry,  Tlicologian. 
Milwaulcie Right  Kev.  J.  llenni,  Bishop. 

Kev.  T.  Iliekey,  Theoloiriaii. 
Bostiin Right  Rev.  J.B.  Fitzputrick,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  J.  \'.  Quiblier,  Theologian. 


B47 


logians. 


jry,  and 


Rev.  R.  L.  Doliiol,  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 
Kev.  .1.  Tiiiiou,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  tho 
Misciiou. 


II 


Iv     ' 


n    \ 


548  APl'LNDIA 

Kcv.  I*,  r/acktrt,  Sii|)orlor  of  tlic  Congrbgntion  of  th« 

Most  Holy  Koilci'imT. 
Uov.  (}.  A.  WilHoii,  I'rov'l  of  tlio  Oidor  of  St.  Dominic. 
Kev.  1'.  J.  Voriiopi^C'ii,  S.  J.,  I'roviuuiiil  of  tiio  Jo«uit8 

for  Miirylimil. 
Kcv.  J.  ().  VimdovcUlc,  W.  J.,  Vice-provincial  of  the 

JcHuilrt  of  Mi.isouri. 

Kcv.  J.H.  Duni|>lioiixuiiil  Rev,  F.  Lliommo,  Secretaries, 
Kcv.  F.  Llioiiinio,  Master  of  Ceronionica. 
Rov.  W.  D.  rar»on»,  Cantor. 


8KTE>iTH  Council  ok  Ualtimore  (1849). 
FlUheri,  Theolor/ians,  and  OJiccrs  of  the  Council. 

BaUit}w:'€ Most  Rev.  S.  Eeclenton,  Arelibinliop. 

Kov.  S.  Kiiyinond,  Kev.  C.  I.  White,  and  Rev.  H.  B. 
Coskery,  Tlieolofrians. 
.S7.  Louis Most  Kov.  1*.  K.  Kenriek,  Arolibisliop. 

Kcv.  S.  A.  Paris  und  Kcv.  Tli.  Foley,  Theologians. 
Mobile Rif,'lit  Kcv.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

Kev.  J.  M.  Portier,  Tlicolojjian. 
PhiladeljMa Kiglit  Kov.  S.  P.  Kcnrick,  Bisiiop. 

Kev.  T.  Amut,  C.  M.,  Thooiojjian. 
Cincitmati Kiglit  Kev.  J.  B.  Piircell,  Bishop. 

Kcv.  J.  F.  Wood  and  Kcv.  W.  Untertlieiner,  0.  P.  M., 
Tlicologians. 
Mw  Orleans Right  Kev.  A.  Blanc,  Bialiop. 

Kev.  A.  Rouquette  and  Kev.  J.  McCaffrey,  Theologians 
Dubuque Right  Rev.  ^I.  Loras,  Bisiiop. 

Rev.  A.  Pclaniourgucs,  Theologian. 
Mw  Torh Right  Rev.  J.  Hughes,  Bisliop. 

Rev.  J.  Loughlinand  Rov.  .J.  Raffcincr,  Theologians. 
Nashville Riglit  Rov.  R.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Rov.  J.  P.  Uonelan,  Theologian. 
Natchez Riglit  Rev.  J.  J.  Clianclie,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Ilickey,  Theologian. 
liichmond Right  Rev.  R.  V.  AVhelan,  Bishop. 

Rev,  T.  O'Brien,  Theologian. 
Detroit Right  Rev.  I*.  P.  Lefevere,  AdminiBtrator. 

Rev,  P,  Kindekens,  Theologian. 
Galveston Right  Rev.  J.  M,  Otiin,  Bishop, 

Rev.  A.  Verot,  Theologian, 
Fittsburg Right  Kev.  M.  O'Connor,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  O'Connor,  Theologian. 


I 


APPKNDIX. 


549 


Albany Right  Rev.  J.  McCIoskoy,  Bishop. 

Ufv.  .F.  J.  (;()iir<>y,  Tlieoldj^iiin. 
Hartford Right  Kuv.  W.  Tv'^'',  Hifthop. 

Ruv.  J.  Fitton,  Theologian. 
CharUaton, Right  Rov.  I.  A.  Rfjnol.Is,  Kishop. 

Rev.  il.  Ryder,  S.  .1.,  Theologian. 
Milwaukie Right  Rev.  .1.  .M.  Heiini,  Bi«hop. 

Rov.  M.  lleiss,  Theologian. 
Jioston Rigiit  Kev,  .1.  U.  Fitzpatriek,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  Connolly,  Theologian. 
CUvdand Right  Rev.  A.  Rappo,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Randanne,  Thcologinn. 
Buffalo Right  Rov.  .J.  Tinion,  Bishop. 

Rev.  B.  O'Reilly,  Theologian. 
Louisville Right  Rev.  M.  .1.  Spalding,  Condjutor. 

Rev.  \V.  Klder,  Tiieologiun. 
Vinctnnes Right  Rev.  M.  de  St.  Palais,  Bishop. 

Rov.  J.  Corbo,  Theologian. 
Chicago Right  Rov.  J.  O.  Vandeveldo,  Bishop. 

Rov.  0.  C.  I'isc,  Theologian. 

Tho  Right  Rov.  A.  Byrno,  Bishop  of  Littlo  Rock,  was  not  pres- 
ent nt  tho  Council,  but  his  Theologian,  Rov.  W.  Starrs,  was. 

Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol,  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 
Rev.  M.  Mailer,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  the 

Mission. 
Eev.  B.  Winimer,  Superior  of  the  Ordc        '    Benedict. 
Rev.  J,  S.  Alemany,  Provincial  of  fh"!  n,,:,     of  St. 

Dominic. 
Kev.  J.  P.  O'Dwycr,  Comm.  GencrrI  c   ii  o  I''  i    Ha  of 

St.  Augustine. 
Rev.  J.  Brocard,  Provincial  oi    le    .-nii.  "f  M^    •'  wi. 
Rev.  J.  A.  Elet,  Vic.  Prov.  of  tho  Jtuil-  ul"  Mi-  ouri. 
Rev.  C.  Boulanger,  Superior  of  the  Jesuii  -./York. 

Rev.  B.  Haf  kenscheid.  Provincial  of  the  C^  .igregatioti 

of  the  Holy  Redeemer. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Damphoux  and  Rov.  F.  Lhomme,  Secretaries. 
Eev.  F.  Lhonnne  and  Rev.  F.  E.  Boyle,  Masters  of 

Ceremonies. 
Eev.  L.  Gillet,  0.  SS.  R.,  and  Rev.  W.  D.  Parsons, 

Ctttitort^. 


fjj 


;i':;' 


'ill 


r 


II I 


fjM 


■?■  i! 


550 


APPENDIX. 


Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  (1852). 
Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Council. 

Jialti7nore Most  Rev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Arclibi^liop,  Delegate  of  the 

Holy  See. 

Kcv.  II.  B.  Coskery,  V.  G.,  Rev.  C.  I.  AVhite,  S.  T.  D., 
anrl  Rev.  Aup.  Verol,  S.  S.  S.,  Theologians. 
Oregon Most  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  ArchblsliDp. 

Rev.  J.  Iliokey  and  Rev.  A.  J.  Elder,  Theologians. 
St.  Louis Most  Rev.  P.  R.  Kt-nriek,  Archbishop. 

Rev.  A.  ()"Regan  and  Rev  G.  O.  Uertiieb,  Theologians. 
New  Orleans Most  Rev.  A.  Plane,  Arclibisliop. 

Rev,  N.  i'erchi'  and  Rev.  J.  Dulan   Theologians. 
New  York Most  Rev.  J.  Hughes,  Arehbisho|). 

Rev.  J.  Lontrhliii,  V.  G.,  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Bailey,  Theol. 
Cincinnati Must  Rev.  J.  B.  Piircell,  Arci/bishop 

Rev.  .1.  Ferneding,  V.  G.,  and  Rev.  J.  M.  Young,  Theo. 
Mobile Right  Rev,  M.  Portier,  Bi>hop. 

Rev.  .J.  J.  Million,  Theologian. 
Dubuque Right  Rev.  M.  Loras,  Bishop. 

Very  Kev.  A.  Pelamourgiies,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Nashville Right  llev.  R.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Rev.  L.  Ubeniicyer  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Byrne,  Theologians. 
Natciuz Right  Rev.  J.  J.  (Jhaiiche,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Fitton,  Theologian. 
Wheeling Right  Rev.  R.  V.  Whelan,  Bishop. 

Rev.  H.  !'.  Gallagher,  Theologian. 
Detroit Right  Rev.  P.  P.  I.ef'evere,  Administrator. 

Very  Rev.  P.  Kinderkeiis,  V,  G.,  Theologian. 
Galveston Right  Rev,  J.  M.  Odin,  Bishop. 

Rev.  E.  Quigley,  Theologian. 
Pittsburg Right  Rev,  M.  O'Connor,  Bisliop, 

Rev.  E.  F.  Garland  and  Rev.  A.  T.  Peyton,  Theologians. 
little  Hock Right  Rev.  A.  Byrne,  Bishop. 

Rov.  P.  Belian,  Theologian. 
Albany Right  Rev.  J.  McCloskey,  Bishop. 

Very  Rev.  J.  J.  Conroy,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Charleston Right  Rev.  1.  A.  Reynolds,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Forbes  and  Rev.  8.  Malone,  Theologians. 
Boston Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Bishop. 

Rev.  D.  Hearne,  Theologian. 
Cleveland Right  Rev.  A.  Rappe,  Bishop. 

Very  Rev.  A.  T.  Caron,  V.  w..  Theologian. 
Buffalo Riglit  Rev.  J.  Tiinon,  Bishop. 

Rev.  W.  O'Reilly,  Theologian. 
JjOuitvVle Right  Rev.  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bishop, 

Eev.  C.  J.  Boeswald,  Theologiaa. 


ArPENDIX. 


551 


e  of  the 

^.  T.  D., 

). 

ans. 
>logian8. 

19. 

>•,  Theol. 
ig,  Tlieo. 

n. 
loloujians. 


Ilogians. 


nans. 


Chicago Right  liev.  J.  0.  Vandc-vcUle,  Bishop. 

Very  Kev.  W.  J.  Quarter,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Ncsqxtaly Kight  Kev.  A.  M.  A.  Bhinchet,  Bishop. 

Kev.  R.  Mullen,  Tlicologian. 
Monterey Kight  Rev.  J.  S.  Allemuiiy,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  Martin,  0.  P.,  Tiieologiau. 
Hartford. , Riglit  Rev.  B.  O'Reilly,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  McElroy,  S.  J.,  Theologian. 
Savannah Right  Rev.  F.  X.  Gurtland,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  MeCatlrey,  S.  T.  D.,  Tiieologian. 
Bichmond Right  Rev.  J.  Mc(4ill,  Bishop. 

Rev.  L.  de  Gandarillus,  Theologian. 
New  Mexico Right  Rev.  J.  Lamy,  Vioar-apostolic. 

Rev.  J.  Truxillo,  Tiieologian. 
Indian  Territory  ..  ..Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Miege,  Vicar-apostolic. 

Rev.  F.  Burlaiido,  C  M.,  Tiieologian. 
Philadelphia Right  Rev.  J.  N.  Neuinan,  Bishop. 

Very  Rev.  E.  J.  bourin,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Toronto  {Canada  IF.). Riglit  Rev.  A.  de  Charbonnel,  Bishop. 

Kiglit  Rpv.  M.  Eutropius,  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's  of  La 

Trappc. 
Very  Kev.  P.  E.  Moriarty,  S.  T.  D.,  Assist.  General  0.  S. 

Aug.,  and  Comm.  General  of  the  Order. 
Very  Kev.  K.  A.  Wliite,  S.  T.  M.,  Visitor-general  of  the 

Order  of  St.  Dominic. 
Very  Rev.  B.  Wimnier,  Superior-general  of  the  Order 

of  St.  Benedict. 
Very  Rev.  W.  Unterthiner,  Sup'r  of  the  Freres  Minora. 
Very  Rev.  J.  Ashwander,  S.  J.,  Provincial  of  Maryland. 
Very  Kev.  \V.  Murphy,  S.  J.,  Vic.  Prov'l  of  M  ssouri. 
Very  Kev.  C.  Boulanger,  S.  J.,  Superior  of  the  Mission 

of  Canada  and  New  York. 
Very  Kev.  A.  Jourdaut,  S.  J.,  Superior  of  the  Mission 

of  New  Orleans, 
Very  Rev.  B.  J.  Hafkenscheid,  Provincial  of  tho  Con- 
gregation of  the  Holy  Redeemer. 
Very  Kev.  M.  Mailer,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of 

the  Mission,  Director  of  tlie  Sisters  of  Charity. 
Very  Rev.  F.  Lhomme,  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  Rector 

of  St.  Mary's. 

Kev.  E.  L.  Damphoux,  Notary. 

Very  Rev.  P.  L.  Lynch  and  Rev.  T.  Foley,  Secretaries. 
Rev.  F.  Burlando,  C.  M.,  Master  of  Ceremonies. 
Very  Rev.  L.  de  Goesbriand,  V.  G.,  and  Rev.  J.  Dough- 
erty, Cantors. 


i"  m 


.  S  ;  I 


552 


APPENDIX. 


TIT. 


CERTIFICATE  OF  THE   MAKFvIAGE   OF   JEROME  BONAPARTE 
(as  entered  in  the  handwriting  of  risHOP  Carroll). 

Baltimore,  December  2ith,  1S03. 
With  license,  I  this  day  joined  iu  holy  mutriinony,  uceording  to  the  rites 
of  the  holy  Cutliolic  Church,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  brotlier  of  the  First  Consul 
of  France,  ond  Elizabeth  Patterson,  daughter  of  William  Patterson,  Esq.,  of 
the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  his  wife.  kf*  Jon^f?  Bishop  of  Baltimore. 


IV. 

LIST  OF  PRIESTS  ORDAINED  IN  THE  DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE, 
PHILADELPHIA,  NEW  YORK,  ALBANY,  BUFFALO,  BROOKLYN, 
AND  NEWARK. 
Ordinations  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  and  Georgetown. 


1 

2 

8 

4 

5 

C 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

IC, 

17 

IS 

19 

2(1 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

21! 

2T 

2S 

2!) 

30 

81 

82 

.S:-i 

34 

85 

3n 

8T 
8- 
89 


-NAMK. 


Stephen  Theodore  Badin 

Demetrius  A.  Giillitziii 

John  Flovd 

John  T.  M.  E.  P.  DeMondeslr 

William  Mathews 

Ignatius  Bal<er  Brooke 

•lohn  Monnereau 

Michael  Cuddy 

Georgie  M.  de  Perigny . .     .    . 

William  O'Brien  

Francis  Roloti; 

John  Spink,  S.  J, 

Leonard  Edelin,  S.  J 

Enoch  Fen  wick,  8.  J...    . 
Benkdiot  Fknwick,  S.  >i. . 

Michael  Byrne 

James  N.  Jou  her*. 

Adam  Marsliall.  S.  J 

John  Carey,  S.  .T 

•loseph  Picol  de  Clou  iere.. . 

Josejih  Uarent 

James  Redmond,  S.  J 

Edward  Damphoux 

John  Moynihaii 

•John  H  i<'key 

.lames  Wiillace.  S  J 

Charles  Bowiuig,  S.  J 

Uo;.'er  Smith . . 

Josejdi  Gobert,  S.  J 

Patrick  O"''onnor 

John  Holland 

John  McElroy.  S.  J 

Koirer  Baxter,  S.  J 

Nicholas  Kenny 

Frtircloiigli 

Geori;e  Slienfelder 

Honore  X  Xaupi 

1  J<)I1>J  Ch.vncuk 

iTiuioihy  O'iirier 


PLACE  OF  STUDY. 


Orleans,  France. . 
St.  Mary's  Sem'y. 

Chartres,  Franco. 
St.  Omer's  Sem'y. 

Liege 

Uioux,  France 

St.  Mary's  Sem'y. 

Blois,  1' ranee 

St.  Mary's  Sem'y . 


GoorKetown. 


St.  Mary's  Sem'y.. 

Georgetown, 

France  and  Geo"t'n 
St.  Mary's 


Georgetown 

France  &'St.  Mary's 


WIIKN 

okdained. 


Georgetown 


St.  Mary's  . . 
Georgetown 
St.  Mary's  . . 


Georgetown 
St.  Mary's.. 


Mount  St.  Mary's. 
St.  Mary's  Sem'y. 


May  25,  1793. 
March  18, 1795, 
Dec.  19.1795. 
Sept.  30,1798. 
March  29, 18(19. 
March  21, 1801. 
April  22,  1802. 
Mav  14,  1803. 
June  20,  180.3. 
April  11.  1808. 
June  11,1808. 


Sept.  23,  1809. 
Sept.  22.  1810. 
Juno  S,  1811. 
Dec, ISn. 
Aui,'.,  1SI2. 
Mav  19,  1812. 
March  21.1813. 
June  12,  1813. 
Aui.  7.  KS13. 
Sept  •.'4.  1^14. 
Nov.  17,  1814. 
June  18,  1815. 
Aug.  2.  1SI5. 
Aug.  27,  181.5. 
Dec.  l:'.,  1815. 
Nov.  30,  1816. 
May  81,  i917. 


March  13, 1818 

It 

Anp.  1,5,  1813. 
June  5. 1819. 


BY  wno.M. 


Achli'p  Carroll. 


Bisliop  Neale. 

u 
ii 

Bishop  Carroll. 

Bishop  Neale. 
ti 

Bishop  Carroll. 

Bishop  Neale. 

Bishop  Carroll. 
(( 

Bishop  Neale. 

Ri-hop  Carroll 
Bishop  Neale. 
Bishop  Carroll 
Bisl.opCheverc 
Archb'p  Neale. 

Abp.  MarechaL 


m 


^, 


ii:^ 


Neale. 


Carroll, 

Neale. 

Carroll. 

Neale. 
Carroll. 

n 

it 

Neale. 

Carroll, 

Neale. 

Carroll 

ICheveri" 

Neale. 

[arucbaU 


APPENDIX. 


653 


N.V.MK. 


IT.ACK   OF  KTUDV. 


WHKN 
OlfDAINK.D. 


BY  wnoM. 


40 
41 
4-J 
4.3 
44 
45 
41! 
47 
4'^ 
49 

r)0 

51 

m 

o4 
55 

r>':, 

57 

5i» 
(iO 
61 


St.  Miiry's  Soin'y. .  i-Mnrch  ib,  1^2i),  Abj).  Maroeli.'vl. 
Georfr<'lo\vii  ..,.!.  July  2:{,  1S20.    ,  " 


JftTiios  Cutniiii-k.n- 

{xeiirce  1).  Hoiriin 

.)i>hnMiii-[itiy.  S.  .1 

lli'iiry  Vcrli('ri:oii,  S,  .1 

Pi'tt-r  .1.  Tiniiucniiiiii^,  .'.  .1. , .  '•  " 

.Mcxiiis  ICl.lor St  Mary"sSom"v..i.\ii<,'.  13,  1820. 

Michafl  WlR'hin "  ...'...■ 

Stephen  Dii  liiiisHoii,  S.  .J Georiietowii I  Auk.  7.  1S2I. 

■•  Dee.  ■-',,  1S22. 

i.M.ircli  I'.Mvia 

Miiv  li.'J,  1S23. 


\'iruil  II.  r.ai'ln'r.  S  .f. . . 

AloysiiH  Miidil.  S  .) 

I'etLT  Wiilsh.  S.  .1 

John  Smith,  S.  .T 

I(;naths  Ui;VN(ii.ii.s. . .  . 

Fercliniiiiii  ('<)>kc'r 

.Jiilin  Oeiry 

Fnincis  .1.  "Vniilior.siuli .. 
Clru-les  C.  I'lM' 


St.  Marv's 


iOct.  24,  1S23. 
.Julyii2,  1S2I. 


...| March  19,1825, 

liriiatiiis  Combs,  S.  .1 |Ge()rf.'etown I.March,  1*25. 

Michael  D.jiiiih.  ily ;  '  "  " 

Sami'ei.  Koci.r.STON- iSt.  Mary's 1  April  24,  1S2.''). 

Matthew  P.  Deapl.' "  Sept.  2:?,  ISJO. 

George  Fenwiek,  S.  J ! :Oct.  2S,  1820. 


62>Tatnes  TLerner jSt.  Mary's 

♦).'!  .\nihiiny  Kenny 

64:.T()lin  I.arkiii 

(15  I'eter  Sebreibev 

6fl  Thomas  Fini<ran,  S.  .1 

07  James  Van  <le  Velck',  S.  •). 

68; James  Neill,  S.  J 

<)',)'.Johii  Gildea 

Tujjiihn  Ciirtin 

71  Franeis  Jamisci;: jSt.  Mary's  .. 

72lFrancif.  StilliiiKer F^mmetsburg 

7;J,.\le.\an(!cr  llit.seiberiii'r I  " 

74'  Ivlwurd  Niu'ht |St.  Mary's  . . , 

75,(ieori,'e  Flaiit ] 

7f>i  Henry  Myers St.  Mary's  . . , 

T7!Kngene  J."  I'elissiri' i   


Sept.  2-3.  1826. 

Oct.  G,  lS2r>. 
Aug.  CO,  1S27. 


Georgetown Sept.  2,5, 1?27. 


it  Marv's  . . 


St.  Mil 


7S:.f()lin  lloskyns ' 

79  Thomas  Liilv.  S.  .1 Gecrgctown 

60  James  Curley,  S  J i .". 

81  IJcrtraml  Plot 

82  Henry  Coskery 

8.3  .Tohii  Doiiehm 

81  Michael  (ralnlier 

85  Michael  lleas 

86  Augustine  Bally,  S   .1.... 

87,J.iincs  Strain,  s"  J 

8h! Patrick  O.rry,  S,  J 

S9|.\inbmse  Dl.ermcver . .  .  . 
•10  .?ohn  H.  MeCaffiv".    


Nov.  25,  1827. 
.March  2.-),  1829, 
iJulv  14,  1829. 
Se|it.  .'),  1S29. 
Fi'b.  2-i,  1830. 
May  2,-1,  1830. 
I  Aug.  81,  1S30. 
I  Oct:  2.  IS.'^O. 
Sept.  3,  1831. 
;  April  17,  1831. 
Auk.  30,  1832. 
J>ine  1,  HG3. 


IGcorgetowu  . . 


Thomas  McCatlr\- . . , 
HuKli  Gritlin. .. .".... 
David  W.  I'acon".  . , 


91 
92 
93, 

94  Kdwartl  Colgnn 

95 /lames  Dolaii 

96i Peter  O'Flanagan,  S  J. 

97  James  Power,  S.  J 

98  koger  Dietz.  S  J 

9^  Henrv  Murphy 

100,  Patrick  Courtney 


St  M:;ry's  . .  , 
Ftnmetsbnig 


Georgetown 


Sept.  1,  1833. 
Sept.  20,  1S34. 
July  24,  1830. 
I       •     " 
Mav  4,  1SS7. 
Mav  6,  1837. 
July  23,  1837. 

It 

I)e'.  8.  18.37. 
.March  li>.  183S. 
Dec.  I.  1838. 
Dec.  13,  IS8S. 

Sept.  1.1889. 
Dec  13.  1840. 
■  April  6,  1840. 

June  29,  1841. 
Sept.  8, 1842. 


Bishop  Chcverus. 
Jiisliop  Dubourg. 
Abp.  Marechal. 

u 


Pp.  V).  Fenwiek. 
Jas.  Whitelield. 
Abp.  Marechal. 

Pp.   Sommnriva, 

of  Modeiia. 
Abp.  Marechal. 


Bb.  E,  Fenwiek. 
Abp.  Whitetield. 


Abp.  Eccleston. 


Bishop  Rosati. 
A  ill).  Eccleston. 


24 


654 


APPENDIX. 


N 


i'  'f  V  ' 


f 


>AME. 


liciii'dici  l)()ii('l;in . 
liiMies  Ward.  S.  J.. 


■lohii  I'.lcx,  S.J 
W'illiatn  C  ark,  S.  J. 


Chitr 


t's  Miiiicstrco 


t.  S.  J. 


Wi  liiiin  Loi;:in,  S,  J., 
Wiliiam  iJlciikiiisDp. 
Jolin  Aiken,  S.J.  ... 


Miles  O'hbdMs.  S,  J.. 
Gi^o'ge  Villiirer.  S.  J. 
Micliai-l  TiitlVr.  S.  J. . 

ThoitiH'*  O'Ni'il 

Josi'ijli  M  sniiro 

Michrti'l  Slattorj' 

Oliver  L  Joiikiiis. . . . 
Oliarli'.'!  15r('Miiii 


no 
no 

121 
122 
12;5 
124 


101 
10'_' 
lii:i 
104 
1(1.') 

lor. 

mr 

lOS 
100 

no 
111 

112 
118 
114 

11. ') 

116 

]17'\V;liiaiii  ParsDns 

llf  Jotin  Karlv,  S.  J 

.\iif.'iisliiif"Mi.'Muik'li,  S.  J.. 

I)aiii(»l  Lynnli.  S.  J 

.\n^'ti.«tiii(>  Kciinoily.  S  J... 

Tiiomas  ,M  Jenkins,  S  J... 

Peter  IJIenkinsop,  S.  J 

Caiiiilliis  Vieiiia'iza,  S.  J. . . 

12.iiTli().n;H  U.  Foley 

126jFraneis  X.  Kinc 

127|Patriok  Dalton. 

123  Joseph  Fiiiotti.  S.  J 

129  James  Clarke,  S.  J 

ISUiltdtitTt  J.  Lnwrenee 

i:il  Cliarle<  Kini.'.  S  J 

132. John  McGnitran,  S  J 

VMi  Aiithonv  Ciariipi.  S.  .1.. 
134 

1.3.^ 

13(' 

137 

13S 

139 

140 

141 

14 

143 

144 

145 

14) 


'LACE  OF   STrnv. 


(leoitrelowii 


WIIKN 
OKDAINK.D. 


l^cc.  17,  1^4.' 
July  4,  1S13. 


Sept.  3,  1S43. 
July  21,  1844. 


St.  Mary's  Sem'y . 


Georgetown 


St.  Mary's  Sein'y. 


Georgetown 


Georgetown 


lAug.  10,  lSt4. 
Sept.  1,  1844. 

Dec.  21,1844. 

July  G,  1S45. 


Jul  vis,  1S46. 
July  26,  1S46. 


Ang  17.  IR4f.. 
April  11,  1847. 
June  IS,  IS  7. 
Aug.  21,  1847. 

July  12,  1848. 
July  23,  1843. 


Fribourg  . . . 
Georstetown 
St.  Mary's  . . 


Georgetown 


Angelo  Paiesre.  S.  <I 

Livins  Vigilante,  8   J 

Basil  Paoei.iriiii.  S.  J 

Peter  ile  .Meuienioester,  S.  J. 

Fr  '.neis  Laeliat.  S.  J 

Hijipolyte  (le  Xeckere,  S.  J... 

Fil ward  Caton 

Peter  LeuMghun 

John  Gillespie,  S.  J 

William  I.aiiiliert 

John  Larkin 

Kdwanl  J.  O'lJrien 

i  John  S^attery.  S.  J jGeorgetown 

147  Bernard  Wiget,  S.  J Switzerland, 

14S|Bnrchard  Villiger,  8.  J I 

149|John  Voors.  S  J Georgetown 

150:Bernard  Masuire,  8.  J..., 

151  Alphonsns  Charlier,  S.  J, 

152  Jolm  Nally 

153|Fr8ncis  K.  Boyle j 

]51{Patrick  Duddv,  S  J iGeorgetown 

155, Henry  Hohan."  S.  J 

156,  Peter  Folehl,  S.J " 

157  James  Tracy | 

158  Samuel  Lilly.  S.J 

159  Patrick  Creiijhton,  S.  J. 
leoi.Miehael  Haring,  S  J. 


St.  Mary'.s 


Georgetown 


161  John  J.  Dougherty St  Mary's 

162,Joai«8  Walters i        '■ 


,  iFeh.  2,  1849. 

Aug.  11,  1S4'). 
,  ISept.  1.  IS49. 

i; 

!'Sept.  22.  1849. 
.Oct  4,  1S49. 

'June  2,  18.io. 
Aug.  11,  1S60. 

i  •' 

Jan.  12,  IS.'il. 
I  Sept.  27,  1851. 

I  ** 

iNov.  21,  lool. 

I 

June  12,  1852. 


July  21,  18.-)0. 
Aug.  27,  1842. 


Sept.  94, 1«.'-3. 
Stpt.  23, 1S53. 


BY  WHOM. 


Abp.  Leekston. 


Bp.  /itzpatrick. 
Abp.  E'cleston. 


Bp.  Fitzpatrlck. 
Abp.  Eeclesloii. 


Bp,  Fitz]iatrick, 
Abp.  Eecleston. 


Bishop  Garland. 
Bi.shop  McGlll. 

Archb'p  Kenrlck. 


Bishop  McQilL 

it 
(I 

Archb'p  Kenrick, 


'«) 


WHOM. 


Lli'dtston. 


•Mtzpatrick. 
E'  cluston. 


APPENDIX. 


Ordixations  in  the  Diocf.se  ok  Wiieklinq. 


655 


KAME3. 

WIIKUE   EDUCATED. 

wiiry 

OKDAINKD. 

BY  WHOM. 

Rev,  Raitliolomew  Stack.' 

Rev.  Di'Miiis  Brcnium. . . .  1 

Doc.  30,  18-19. 
Doc.  2S,  IS50. 

Bishop  AVhelan. 

u 

n 

u 
n 

Rev.  John  T.  Hnizill Seinin;try,  AViid'lins 

Rev.  SU'pheii  Ihiljcr St.  Mary's  Seiuin'ry,  IJult. 

Hcv.  H.  F.  Pmko | 

Rev.  Jiiiiics  Ciiniiiiighain.             "               " 

Rev.  ,I(,hn  Wnlt.-rs "               " 

Rev.  Jo.-eph  Ileideiicaiiii)  Seminary,  "Wheeling 

Rev.  Henry  Miilune i        '*                   " 

.liiMP  15.  1851. 
.March  2S.  1852. 
Dec.  21,  1s51. 
Aug.  ]«,  1853. 

May,  1850. 

1 

Ordinations  in  Philadelphia  from  1820  to  1832. 

Most  Rev.  John  HuKhes,  now  Archbishop  of  New  York. 
Right.  Kev.  F.  X.  Garllarul,  late  IJishop  ut>nvaniiah. 
Riglit  Rev.  G.  A.  Carrell,  now  Bishop  of  Cuvinglon. 


Rev.  B.  Keonnn. 
"    P.  RafTcrtv. 
"    Mr.  Mean! 
"    Micliael  Curran. 


Rev.  Th.  Ecnn. 
"    Ch  J.  Oarter. 
"    Th.  llavdcn. 
"    Mr.  Uwiii. 


Rev.  J.  O'Reilly. 
'•    J.  t?tillini.'t  r. 
"    E.  J.  Soiirin. 


! 


> 


Out  ok  the  Skminauy  of  St.  Charles  Borro.meo  from  1S32  to  1858. 


it/patrlek. 
Ecclesion. 


"itzi)atrick, 
I  Ecclesion. 


Ip  (HarlRnd. 
Ip  McGlll. 
I    I. 

k'p  Kenrlck. 


McQIlL 
it 

Ip  Kenrick, 


Rev,  Henry  F,  Fitz>imn-.ons 

"  Micliael  Harkcr, 

"  I'arrick  Rcil!v. 

"  Peter  Miihcr." 

"  Daniel  V.  Devitt. 

"  J.itnes  Miilriiiiy, 

■'  Micl:;iel  Gal  ai}lier, 

'■  E.luard  McGiTiiii.s, 

'  Francis  •',  Dean, 

'•  James  MilUr. 

"  Daniel  .Mct'oiien. 

"  Chri^tl)■r  \V.  Loughran. 

"  I'atricl;  Xmreiit. 

"  Peter  Sti-inliacker. 

"  Pairick  Preniicrsrast, 

"  JIaltliew  W.  Gih.son, 

'■  Patrick  Shi-rid  in, 

"  Nicliiilas  Caniwcll. 

'■  IIiii.'h  Lane, 

"  Iliigli  Fit/siinmons. 

"  I'hihp  OFarrell, 

"  Jolin  Mrtckin. 

"  Doinin  ck  Forrestall. 

"  Robert  Kleineidain. 

"  John  Walsh. 

"  James  Power. 

"  John  lierbiirier, 

"  Michael  Malone, 

"  Eicbard  O'Connor, 


Rev  Michael  Martin, 

"  Jereiniali  ,\liorn. 

"  James  Oiillen. 

•'  Jiiines  McGinnis. 

'•  Thiiinas  lU-ai'don. 

"  Janii's  ()  Kai.e. 

'•  Pairiik  Flan'-'an. 

"  James  (VKe  tfe, 

"  SylvfSfer  Ea'.'le. 

"  John  LooiTliran. 

"  llui-'h  McMahon. 

"  Artiiur  Haviland. 

"  Michael  Wertzfleld. 

'•  John  0"Shani:liiiessy. 

"  MaMhcw  McGi'ain," 

"  John  Davis. 

"  MoM's  \V hi! ty. 

"  .Maltlicw  ('(djl)in, 

"  Peter  (,'arlion. 

"  Philip  Gohifh. 

"  Edward  .Mnrrav. 

"  Edward  Q.  S.  Waldron, 

"  Phtri,  k  O  Hrien. 

"  Henry  Finniiran 

"  Michael  L.  Scanlan. 

"  John  .Mctiovern. 

»  John  Kelly. 

"  John  Power. 

"  Francis  X.  George. 


Rev.  Michael  Plielan, 

"  John  C^dnn 

"  "\Vm   M.Laiishlin. 

"  John  l-"laniiraii. 

"  Ji'lni  Prendergast. 

"  \Vi;i.  Kean. 

'•  Daniel  Slieridan. 

"  Patrick  Noonan. 

"  Jniin  Power. 

"  Francis  ,1.  Walter, 

"  Rndo'.f  Knn-..ir. 

"  Waiter  Power. 

"  Joliii  McCo-ker. 

'•  Patrhk  Fit.'.Mioiris. 

"  Patrick  Me.Vi-dle. 

'■  Denii'--  O'll.trra. 

"  James  McGinn. 

"  Richanl  Kinnchan. 

"  Maar;.  •  Walsh 

"  ]Cdnn)i  d  Fii/morrls. 

"  'riionia>  Lyndon. 

"  Charle^  .\!cEnroy. 

'•  James  BaiTi  tt. 

"  John  Si'anlan. 

'•  John  Me.^nany. 

"  'I'hcunas  Keains. 

"  David  Whrbin. 

"  Patrick  M<'S\viggan. 

"  Nicholas  Wulsh." 


M 


y.  U 


■1  )■'■•  I 


v. 


,A: 


656 


AriT-NDIX. 


OUDINATIOXS    IN'   TIIK    J)Hi('i;SK    OK    XkW    YoUK. 


NAMHB. 


Rov. 
L'ev. 
F.cv. 

IJov. 

llfV 

liov. 
lU'v. 
litv. 

]:.v. 

K.-v. 

lU'V. 

liev. 

Rpv. 

Kev. 
Itev. 
Kov. 
lltv. 
E.v. 
1U'\: 
liov. 
]'av. 

]:ov. 


Mil  hiifl  <)'(i<iriiian  . 

liicliiird  Mn'iiPr 

Piitiick  Kolly 

Oldilfs  liroiiiian  . . . 
•lolin  SliniiitliHti  .. . . 

•  IllIlM  (.'omMV 

Liiki'  Heiry 

.John  Wiil^li 

•IiiSfph  A  Srliiu'lli'r. 
Orrirorv  I?.  I'anlow. 
Williiiiii  (jiiaricr. .  . . 
Uenianl  O'Keilly..  . 

.Tames  Tonvooron  . . 

I'dtrick  Mdiitii 

"WalttT  ,1.  Quarter  .. 

.Tdhn  Kolly 

.Iiilm  M'Cioskoy 

William  Stairs 

I'Mtfitk  Ui-adk'v.... 

Ji)iin  M'Niiity" 

.laiiK  s  DoiilitTty  .  . 
I'airick  Oost.'llc). . . 
.Iiiliii  N.  Neiimaiui . 
David  Bacon 


■W'lIEKK  KDL'CATEI). 


KUkcliiiy  (Joirjxe,  Ireland. 

tl  *i  ti 


Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 


?oiiiinarv  at  ]\rontrcal. 


WHEN 
OUDAI.NKI). 


St.  Mary's  Coll..  V>h1  ini'e 
.Mount  St.  Mary's  Collcs;e. 
St.  Mary's  v  ul).,  Baltiiu'e, 


.\.D.  iS15. 
A.  ]).  MM. 
A.D  ivJl. 
A.  1).  \-i-2. 

A.  1).  IS'.',-,. 
-Ian.  1.  l&'.'T. 
Septcm.,  IS'27. 
iDee.  'J 4,  IS'.'T. 
'Sept.  K  IS'.",). 
Soi.t.  1!),  IS-JO. 
'Oct.  ir>,  1S:J1. 


Pnipni^randn.  Rome 

Mount  St.  .NIary's  Collei/e. 
Cliamhiy  and  Mount  "?t. 

Mary's  Colletie 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 

St.  Mary's  Coll.,  IJaltiin'e. 


.Tiine11,1S.32. 
Nov.  1),  ISa'i. 


BY  WHOM. 


Uibliop  Connolly. 


Bishop  Dubois. 


Piisirp  Isenrick  ot 

l'iiiladel|diia. 
Bisln>i)  Dubois. 


.Semin.iry  at  Montreal.. 
|Cliuuibly 


Edward  O'Xiell  . . . 

F.  Coyie 

.lohn  Loiiudilin 

Miles  Maxwell  . , . . 

.].  Mackay 

B.  L.  LaiMza  

A.  Manahan.  D.D.. 
Cluis.  D.  MMullen. 
'1  lieodore  Noethen 
Carberry  .J.  Byrne. 
John  Iliirley 


jSeiiiinary  at  Montreal  and 

St.  Mary's  Coll.,  Balti'e. 

'Mount  St.  Marv's  College. 


lApril  28,  1S38. 
Se|.t.  14,  lS:i3. 
.Ian.  12.  ls:!4. 
Sept.  12,  1S34. 
Dee.  S,  lS:i4. 
May  2(1,  IHSCk 
•Inly  14,  I.Sy.5. 
March  2.5.1836. 
■lunc  25,  1S36. 


Dec.  13,  1  S3?. 
Oct.  IS,  1S40. 


iLafarceville  &  Fordhani.|.Ian.  5.  Is41. 

IFordham ' 

ll^afar^jeville  i<c  Fordham.  |  " 

!  Propasanth,  Rome Aug.  2',>.  1841. 

Laliirgeville Dee.  1>^.  1H41. 


Blfliop  Hughes, 


Card'al  Franzoni, 
Bishop  Hughes. 


For.lhatn | 

Mount  St.  Marv's  College. 


Rev 
Rev 


.John  .1.  Conroy 

,  Lawrence  Carroll. ., 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 

Rev 
Rev 

Rev 
Rev. 
Kev 


Rich.ird  Kein 

William  llogan  ... 
Jan>es  Keveiiy . . . . 
.Anthony  Farley. . . 
Francis  Donahue. . 
Isaac  P.  Howell  . . . 

Michael  M'Donnell 
..I.  R.  Bayley 


June  4.1 '^12.  St. 
^^ary's  Cliap- 
I    el,  Fordhara. 

■Jan.20.1SI.3,St. 
i     Mary's  Clia])- 
el.  Ford  ham. 
Jan.  2!),  184.3. 


William  M'Clellan. 
,  Michat!  Curran,  Jr 
Miclmel  Riurdaii  . . 


'  Lafarseville  and  Fordhani  i 
I  --  '•        I 

jSem.  of  St.  Charles  Boro- 
I  meo,  Phil.,  &  Fordhaui. 
Seminary  at  Fordhaiii  . .. 
St.  Sulpice    Paris.  &  Sem- 

I     iiuiry  at  F<irdham 

'Seuiiuiiry  at  Fordhani — 


March  2,  18-14. 


April  14, 1844. 


•VVJIOM, 


J)  Connolly. 


p  Dubois. 


p  Ki'nrirk  ot 
ilaiU'Iphia. 
ip  Dubois. 


:)p  Hughes. 


Franzonl. 
Hughes. 


APPENDIX. 


557 


NAMES. 


WIIBRE  EDUCATED. 


Uev.  .I(ihn  HrtcUott 

Ruv  Joliu  SlnTidiin 

lit'V. 'rhdiiiHS  M  Hvoy  ,, 
Kev.  William  ()  It.illy.., 
lii'v.  Sylvester  Miiloiie... 
Uev,  Matiliew  lIlL,'j;iiis, .» 
liev.  (leoii^e  M\  losiiey., 
Uev.  PatrJL'li  Kuuiiy,  . . . , 


Seminary  at  I'ordham 


Rev.  F.  P.  MTarland  . . 
I'ev.  Valentine  Burgos. 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rov. 
Rev. 
D. 
Itev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rov. 
Rev. 


Patriek  M'Kenna. .. 
John  M'Menomy. .. 

Patriek  Murphy 

.J.    W.    CiimiiiinL's, 
D 


.lames  llourigan  . . 

M.  Forranl 

Euirene  Matruire. . . 

Tlioinas  Daly 

John  Ciiroe 


iPropaganila,   Rome,    and 

I     Korilham 

[Mount  St.  Mary"s  College, 

anil  Fonlliam 

St.  Siilpiee  and  Seminary 

at  Fordhum   

Seminary  at  Fordham  . .. 


Propaganda.  Rome 

Sendnary  at  Fordham.. . . 
Scholastic  S.  .1 

Seuunary  at  Fordliam.. .. 


Rev.  Dennis  ^Vheeler. 


Rev.  Angustu.s  Regnier  ,, 
Rev.  Ciiarlos  Sheaiisky  ., 
Rev.  .Vngustus  Kohler.., 
Rev.  James  O'Sullivan. . 
Rev.  Bernard  J.  M'tjuaid 
Rev.  John  M.  Murphy  . ., 

Rev.  Thomas  Ouellet 

Rev.  Francis  M'Kcone. . 

Rev.  -lohn  Boyle 

Rev.  Thomas  Farrell  . . ., 
Rev.  Edward  Reilly  ... . 

Rev.  John  tjuinn 

Rev.  St(tplien  Sheridan  . 
Rev.  Thomas  Quinn. . . . 
Rev.  J.  Xavier  Marechal 
Rev.  Claude  Pernot  .... 
Rev.  John  B.  Duffy  .... 
iU-y.  John  Ranfoi.-en  . . . 
lie V.  Edward  Briady  ... 
Rt>v.  Thoinas  T)oran. . . . 

Rev.  .John  Carroll 

Rev.  Henry  (yXeill 

Rev.  Patrick  M'Cartliy  . 
Rev.  Mieh.ael  Madden... 
Rev.  Ilugli  Sweeny  .... 
Rev.  Victor  15eauilevin  . 
l£ev.  Maiie  Desj  leques. . 
Rev.  'I'heoilore  Thiry . . . 
Rev.  .I(diii  Comerlord. . . 
Rev.  .John  M.  Forbes  . . . 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Pre.ston 

Rev.  .lohn  Re-'an 

Rev.  Kuffone  C.issidy  . . . 
Rev.  Thomas  M'Laughlin. 


Mount  St  Mary's,  and  St. 

Joseph's  Seminary 

Mount  St.  Mary'o,  and  St. 

Josei)h's  Seminary 

Schola>tie  S.  J 


St.  Joseph's  Seminary. 


Schcdastic  S.  .T 

St.  Joseph's  Seminary.. . . 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College 
St.  Jo.seph's  Seminary. . . . 


Scholastic  S.  -T 


Redetnplori^r 

.St.  .Joseph's  Seminary. 
Seminary  of  .Montreal. 
St.  Joseph's  Seuunary. 


.  :8chola.stic  S.  J. 


WIIKN 
OKDAI.VKD. 


Ai.rll  14,  ISW. 
Aug.  If),  lii44. 


May  1?,  1S45. 


Oct.  21,lStl). 

.T.an.  .3,  184T. 
Feb.  7,  IblT. 

May  30, 1S47. 


Aug.  -S'l,  1^47. 
Jan.  Ill,  134i. 


May  3,  1S4S. 


Se[it.  23,  li4?. 
■June  14,  lS4t», 


Oct.  3,  1S49. 

Nov.  1,1  s40. 
Dec.  lii.  Is41t. 


May25,  lS.-)0. 


UY  WllO.Vf. 


Bishop  Ilunhes. 
Bis'p  M'Clo.-.key. 


Bishop  Hughes. 


Monsig.  Brnnelii. 
Bis'p  M'ClosUey. 

Bishop  Hughes. 


Bis'p  M'Closkey. 
Bisliop  Hughes. 


Bi>'p  M'Closkey. 
Bithup  Hughes. 


St.  Joseph's  Seminary Xov.  16,  1S50.     Bis'p  M'Closkey. 


Aug.  1, 1S51.     ;  Archb'p  Uughea. 


Kev.  Daniel  Mugan. '. Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 


i  !i 


V'l 


M 


m 


/v 


i^M 


:  H 


•J  ■, 
■ 


656 


APPENDIX. 


W 11  K.N 

NAMB. 

WIIK.RK  EDUCATED. 

OKl>Al.Nia>. 

BY  WHOM. 

Hev.  TlioiiiiiH  Mulrilio.  .. 

M<)il:;t  St.  Mary's  Colli'^to 

Aii^r.  VI.  ISftl. 

Arcbb*f>  llugltefiL 

liov.  iJaiiit's  Cdvlf 

St.  Jo-Ni'iili's  Si'iiiiiiary. . . . 

March  IH,  18M. 

ki 

Kiv.  'lilii.-'  .Idsliii 

"                 "         ... 

" 

4i 

Kcv.  C'tinifliuH  Dcluliiuily 

ti                ii 

11 

tt 

llov  i)iiiiii>  \\\-^'cr 

Scli()la,slic  S.  J 

14 

4( 

\W\\  Arlliiir  .1.  Dniinolly. 

St.  .losfpirs  St'iiiinary. . . . 

Oct.  6, 1S63. 

it 

Iti'v.  A  milt!  w  Holiiiii  .... 

.Mount  St.  Mary's  C'oili'ge. 

it 

ti 

Kov.  Williim  MCldskoy. 

it           it               t. 

ii 

ii 

licv.  I'MtV      Is  OWoill 

Maynodth  Col  litre 

ik 

(i 

Ui'V.  I'litiitk  Ki;nil 

St.  Joseph's  Suininary. . . . 

Jan.  29, 1S53. 

u 

i;<'V.  IJii'imiil  I'arroll  .... 

.t               I. 

kk 

(t 

IJfv.  I'litriik  M  (iovi-rn.. 

ti               it 

ti 

ii 

ili'N.  'I'liniim.^  MuDiii'y  . . . 

i.               11 

i4 

ki 

Ut'V.  Willhiiii  KMTott  . .. 

"                "• 

a 

it 

lli-v .  liciij.  .Mhtiiv 

"        .... 

Oct.  16,  1S53. 

Archbij^'pBedini, 

JIi'v.  Man  in  Uowlin:? 

11                            u 

ti 

»• 

lii'V.  Daii.cl  Diiniiii','  . . .  • 

..                                       4. 

tk 

ii 

l!(>v.  William  K»'e::aii, .. 

41                                  (. 

«i 

ii 

lIi'V.  Cliiis,  I'icaliTii.S.  .1.. 

ii 

ii 

]U'\'   Josc'iili  ( 'ai'i'ddil  S  fl 

It 

liov.  W'Wv  Ti^siit,  Ji  .1.. . . 

ii 

i:>v.  IVt,  1'.  Uilii'imuyer, 

^;.  .). 

.Jan.  21,  1S54. 

Bishoji  Loughlin, 

llfv.  I'lti'i-  MX  iiinm 

St.  Josopli's  Sotiiinarv 

\'-v\.  lii'ii.i.  ( 1  CiilliiLrlmii . . . 

.... 

ii 

ii 

llov.  .JaiMis  IJri'iiiiiiM  .... 

U                              il 

i( 

ii 

lu'\ .  I'atlick  Mall(ilif\  .  . . 

1.                 .. 

ii 

*^ 

1I<'V.  Kijiiicis  ,1.  liiililaril". . 

U                           il 

Alls,  17,  1S54. 

Archb'p  Hughes. 

Krv,  .Joliii  (.'aiiiplii'il 

tl                       i. 

tk 

** 

Kev.  l''iaiii'i.s  M'Ni'arney . 

"                 " 

ti 

ii 

lu'v.  Kiiwdul  Lviicli 

"                 "         .... 

u 

ti 

Kcv.  .laiiics  KcMlv 

"                 "         .      . 

(( 

ii 

Jivv.  C'(inicliii>  t'iiiiiiiiii;. . 

..                       .1 

ti 

ii 

Kov.  I'hiliii  M'.MalKiii.... 

il                                 41 

i( 

i( 

lav.  iliijjii  ISari'v 

•' 

Dec.  2;?,  1854. 

Bishop  Louchlin. 

Ki'v.  Kdw.iid  M'Giiiii 

14                                  U 

t* 

ki 

Ki'V.  .loliii  Murray  

44                                  14 

4t 

ii 

Ki'V.  .Innics  IJiivci' 

44                                 (4 

Aug.  n,  1S55. 

Archb'p  Hughes, 

lUv.  ,I,,lui  M  Kvuv 

44                                  I. 

»» 

ti 

lU'v.  riiilip  o'Dimoliui'. . 

(4                                  4i 

14 

ii 

lii-v.  Jiihii  M  DeriiKilt  . .. 

44                              .4 

tl 

it 

liov.  .Jdlin  MaixiT ■' 

44                                  44 

li 

ii 

lu'v.   .1.  A.  Cuiiniii^'liain, 

S.  J 

(( 

it 
ii 
U 

ii 

\\-\.  il.n.  .M.  Iliuldii  S.  .1. 

tt 

Ki'V.  I'liili|>  ll.('li()iiiii,S.J. 

ti 

Kov.  .loliii  M.  .Viibicr,  S  J. 

ii 

OlU). NATIONS    !N'    THE    DiOrKSE    OK    BuOOKLYN. 


NAMK. 

WIIKN    ORDAINED. 

BY    WHOM. 

Ki'V.  .Tolin  Dowlinc 

Aiiiru.st  1.3,  1S54 

Septoniber  22.  1  ^54 

A u<;iist  l.'i,  lSr)5 

.Ml',-  1,  1S.-)6 

I'lisliop  Louglilin. 

44 

Ki'V.  Ki  linrd  I>aNtei',  S.  .1 

Krv.  Tli.itnas  \V    McCloorv 

Kfv   l-)a:iiil  Wh.'laii ". 

Kcv.  Al"'  r-iiis  l-jid'  r- 

41 
41 
41 

'.  f 


i  WHOM. 


t)'{)  II  Uglier 


bisp  Bedlni. 


>li  Longhlin. 


b"p  Hu 


ghcs. 


p  Longhlin. 


"p  Iluglios. 


WHOM. 


LouL'lilin. 


APPENDIX. 


Ol'.DI.V.ATIONS    IN    TIIK    DlOCEsiK    OF    AlDANY. 


559 


N  AMI'S. 


Wl'K'U;  KUUCATRD. 


DATE  OK  OKDINA- 
!  TION. 


BY  wno.«. 


ilcv.  Jdliii  U.  lIcitiKt Si.  .Tolin"".  F  I'llli.im 

Ri'v.  Mli'liMi'l  Vu\\,\- Irish  CollcKO,  I'lirls 

IIi'v.  Williiiiii  McCullion 

Itcv.  llfiiry  iltiflvins 

Kfv.  Kd^'iii-  r.  \\  iu'iiHiiiH  ..  St.  Siili)lci-,  I5Hltinioiv,M(l. 

Kcv.  .M  i(  liiii'l  lliickia 

I.'ov.  l*Htri<'k  Kciiiin Mnyiiootli,  Ireland 

Hev.  Mmiiict'  I.'ouin' Irish  Collige,  Paris 

Hi'V.  Miiiirlcc  .:..«oli.         ..  "  .... 

Hi'V.  WillJHin  CojU'lilaii "  .... 

I'cv.  Michiifl  C'.;Mko 

Ki'V.  l!,irtlii)loiii.MfL(i;:liliii  .Mt.  St.  Mury'.i,  litniiU't.sb. 

liiv.  Tliiimas  '"iilliiti Hi.  John's,  FordhKlii 

llev.  Kii  ■  no       ircill "  . . . . 

Kev.  t'<„/ii'liiis  {■•iti'ii;itrii'l<.  "  

llfv.  James  Sniilli    Montrettl 

I.'ev  Jdsepli  Meyo 

Ilev.  I.<pui>  DfSKiclies. .   ...  Montreal 

I'-v.  Jolin  Liidden 6t.  .John's.  ForUham 

P'-v.  riiarles  Jir.idy 


Julv  19,  1S4T. 
November,  184S. 


Janunry  13.  IS-OO. 
May  :i,  ISDO. 

August  XT),  1S50. 
May  ;?,  ISJI). 

'Ancust  15, 1S60. 

IS.')]. 

Kastertido,  18.')2. 
IViitucost,  ls5iJ. 

Suiiiiiier  1333. 

jlsv.i. 

Jimuarv  '.!l.  1S.")4, 

I  Uccfii  liter  0,1834 


15p.  McCioskey. 


I 


Pev. 
Pev. 
itev. 
Kev. 
Uev. 
Hev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Eev. 
Pev. 
Uev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Itev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Uev. 
Kev. 
lU'V. 
l{ev. 
Eev. 
Kev. 
Eev 
Eev. 
Pev. 
Pev. 
Kev. 


OkOINAIIONS    IX    TllJi    DlOClCSK    OF    BvKKALO. 

Edmund  O'Connor '. Ordained  April  22, 1S4S. 


Jidin  Donnelly 

Joliii  Fii  'Oiitriel: 

Mi.  Imel  •'I'rlen 

Joseph  r.ii^io 

Teter  ISede 

Charles  'I'iernry 

Mieliael  Walsl' 

M.  Seller'     r. 

Tlioniiis  1^:'  iiilngliuoi 

Joseph  Ia    1  "ii 

Ricliard  'lariui.;i 

FriiiKis  '  .  Lefiter 

Franeis  S.  Urich 

Daniel  Dolaii 

Peter  C'o'gii:! 

Winiiiiii  Siepliens 

Daniel  .M  .(Hv 

Franeis  l\.->,utli.'iner. . , 

Franeis  O.  I'arrell 

Nicholas  lii.rns 

J.  K.trly 

Bernard  McCo(d 

Thouias  Unnly 

Martin  Ka\    ';  'iili 

Mi.-liael  I'lireell 

William  Gleeson 

Richard  Storey 

N.  Ueituar 


1S4S. 

18  8. 

1849. 

1340. 
March  30,  1S49. 
Jniio  17,  1849, 
June  17.  1S49. 

1S49. 
September  1.'),  1S50. 
Seiitember  22,  IS.^O. 
1S5\ 
"  1850. 

"  l.S,^0. 

December  22, 1850. 
1850. 
Miirch  9,  18.51. 
April  27,  l?al. 
June,  IS.'il. 
Jnly  19.  1851. 
Ociober.  1852. 
May.  1S53. 
Jan  nil  ry,  1H54. 
January,  1S54. 
Auiriist,  1854 
1854. 
1S.54. 
1S55. 
1854. 


560 


APPENDIX. 


' !  hi 


!ij2  J, 


V. 

"DOCUMENTS   KKLATIN(t   To   TI' K    \rNCIATl'KE  OF  THE  MOST 
PvEV.  <\  BKDINI,  AKCiiniSIlOl'  Ob'  THHBKS. 
[From  the  New  York  Frccniiin's  Jonrim',  Sutnrdny,  April  8tli,  1851] 

Tmk  Now  Yo'-k  Krpi(.^>i  fuiL'ns  Hiii'prisc  tlait.  in  liis  luttcrto  tlu;  ArcliLisliop 
of  Kiiltiiiiori',  MoMsu'iriiLMir  Bediiii  'lous  not  spe.ilc  of  U','o  Uiissi,  ami  dooji 
not  cle^cciid  to  a  jiistiHcntion  of  )iimself  from  tlic  oiiluinnica  of  whicli  tliat 
pajHr  miiilo  it:^elf  so  nt'coiniaoilatiii'jr  nn  cclio.  lint  tlio  /i'lyi/r.'W  fortjcts  that 
the  Nuncio  iliil  not  aililross  iiis  oomniiiniciition  to  the  Messrs.  T5ri)oi<s ;  nnJ 
does  it  sni'posc  tliat  wp,  ('iitiiolic.*,  noud  to  liavo  the  oliarjjos  of  the  Italian 
rt'fnf;e(*s  refuted  ?  The  Kvprefs,  jiowcvor,  it*  too  quick  in  its  exultation,  if  it 
tliinks  \iiat  no  one  is  ocoupied  in  tranioriui,'  tcroliu'r  the  autlientic  proofs  of 
the  falseliood  of  wluit  the  Italian  eniiirrants  have  ao  shanicli^sly  uttered. 
We  haso  awopted  tlie  part  tluit  it  was  not  proper  for  tlie  eniiiRiit  character 
of  II  I'ontitical  Envoy  to  assume,  because  it  belongs  to  the  press  to  undo  thu 
evil  done  by  the  press,  and  we  ass\iro  the  editor  of  the  /;>/'r^M  that  ho 
shall  have  lost  nothin;,'  i)y  waiting'.  We  base  taken  the  pains  to  send  to 
Bologna  some  copies  of  the  Keprtus  containing  the  report  of  the  Italian 
meeting  of  last  February  (TtlO,  the  time  when  those  unhappy  people  showed 
the  ass's  courage  in  kicking  at  their  a^stnt  victim,  Monseigneur  having  de- 
parted two  days  bclbrc.  The  Wall-street  journal  must  feel  '  ery  strange, 
finding  itself  in  the  hands  of  honorable  men  in  Iioloirnn ;  but,  in  fact,  wo 
bad  a  desire  to  show  to  what  a  degree  of  madness  the  enemies  of  the  Papacy 
give  themselves  up  in  the  blindness  of  their  hatred.  We  asked,  at  tho 
;-'ame  time,  that  thoso  to  whom  wc  sent  the  Ku-jjress  would  be  kind  enough 
0  furnish  us  some  authentic  documents  relative  to  tlie  military  executions 
,)i  13'1'J  and  ISJO.  The  following  is  the  reply  we  receive  from  an  honorable 
judge  of  the  Tribunale  d'Appclo  : 

"  BoLooNA,  March  4,  1854. 
*  *  *  "  I  .see  no  better  way  of  answering  tho  calumniators  of  Mon- 
Beigneur  Bedini,  than  to  send  to  America  an  authentic  copy  of  the  military 
ordinances  of  1849  and  1850,  by  which  martial  law  was  proclaimed,  and  tho 
military  tribunal  established  ;  and  I  might  join  to  this  a  copy,  word  for 
v/ord,  of  the  dill'erent  condemnations  which  were  successively  pronounced. 
All  these  sentences  are,  without  one  exception,  pronounced  by  a  judgment 
civil  and  military  ('  Guvlizio  Statario  t  viilitario^),  and  signed  bv  tho  <.a'neral 
in  command,  who  was  at  once  civil  and  military  governor.  The  tifiy  indi- 
viduals cited  by  the  American  pajjcrs  as  liaving  been  put  to  death  and 
skinned  by  Monseiji'neur  while  he  was  Pontifical  Commissioner  Extraordi- 
nary, I  tiiid  recorded  in  the  ga/cttes  of  Bologna  between  the  months  of 
May,  1819,  and  September,  1850;  and  I  read  there  tliat  they  were  all  ar- 
rested, condemned,  and  shot  by  the  Austrian  military  commandant,  and 
not  by  the  Pontifical  Commissioner;  and  their  condemnations,  as  well  us  tho 
consequent  executions,  are  published  by  notifications  signed  by  tho  mili 
tary  governor  himself.     On  collecting  tlie>o  various  items,  with  th(;ir  rj. 


I^^^ii 


m 


APPENDIX. 


5G1 


fact,  wo 

Papacy 

I,  at  tlio 

cnouirh 

iceutioiis 

ouoniMe 

1854. 
of  Mon- 
iDilitury 

:uul  tho 
i-ord  for 
ounced. 
lilgmeiit 

jfeiicnil 
Ity  iudi- 
lith  and 

traordi- 
liitlis  of 
all  ar- 

|it,  and 
lis  tho 
)  mill 

|t;ir  ro. 


f.pectlvc  dates,  nnd  scndini.'  tlicm  to  Airipricii  for  |Mib|iontion,  it  «ocm««  to  me 
tiuit  Moiisoi^iieur  will  be  niado  to  triutiiph  over  liisi  oulmnuiattir.^,  and  tlmt 
they  will  ho  forced  to  bliinh  for  their  wiokedncss.  I  hiive  eommeiiced  tho 
cxamiiiutioii  of  the^o  ilocmaoiits,  and  if  von  wi?>h,  I  will  coiitiiniu  the  labor. 
"  '^'c-tcrday  I  went  from  house  to  bouse,  from  (jtlicc  to  ollh'p,  to  nii- 
uouhce  to  his  friends  the  ;rood  news  of  MoiJsei;,'neur'a  arrival  at  Home,  and 
to  nil  it  was  n  y>y   i'  ODmfort,  an  airrecablo  surprise.     Tho  bap]\v  return  •  '. 


Ills  Kxoillcnec  si 
lis  gliul  tidinjrs,  uii, 
him  (IS  a  messenu'i 
lector  of  every  - 

The  honest  j-     .--i 
any  thing  can  be  do 


every  one  ns  a  eau>o  of  thankfulness  to  (Joil,  .; 
n  for  hope.     In  one  word,  the  yieoplu  here  '       .  ' 
1   and  of  peaec— tho  sympatliizini,',   aeti\ ,    pu 
IS  .leed  of  hel|),'' 

cr,  dreams  of  the  inip-isslble  when  he  thinks 
i;c  these  cahunidators  blush. 

lis  >c  NOiit  t'llt  im  front  qui  lie  rouKitjiuniils. 
"Their  clicfk  lui.i  lost  the  powor  tu  Mush," 

But  beyond  these  urtiticers  of  falsehood,  who  have  oars  and  hear  not.  and 
outside  of  ('atholies  who  have  no  need  of  any  refutation,  tlurc  is  tho  tri*cut 
mass  of  the  American  piihilie,  who  have  no  other  desire  than  to  asoerlain 
tho  facts;  and  it  is  for  thet^e  that  we  will  cause  nil  tho  documents  to  bo 
brought  Ibrward  of  which  our  eurrespondcnt  speaks. 

If,  in  tho  accomplishment  of  his  high  political  functions,  Monseigneur 
Bedini  had  been  reduced  to  the  sad  necessity  "f  ^ignlnir  any  sontencc  of 
tleath,  we  would  not  seek  to  exonerate  liim  from  a  rosponsi'  'lity  that  be- 
longed to  him.  Washington  was  not  an  assasL-in  for  liavin  _  signed  tho 
death-warrant  of  Major  Andrf-;  and  he  would  have  sent  Arnold  as  v.'cll  to 
the  scatfoM,  had  the  traitor  fallen  into  his  hands.  Kut  it  is  a  jiropcr  thing 
to  sec  that  there  if.  "  rendered  to  I'lesar  the  things  that  are  Cu^sur's,"  and  to 
Austria  the  things  that  belong  to  Ar  tria. 

Aprnpoi,  we  have  not  yet  heard  that  the  Secretary  of  State  has  found 
tho  famous  letter  of  Lewis  Cass,  Jr.,  whiidi  had  announced  otiieially 
to  our  government  tlu^  mission  intrusted  to  Monseigneur  Pjcdini.  But  we 
have  in  its  place  a  document  written  by  Mr.  Cass  to  Monsciunicur  Bedini 
during  the  Lent  of  the  last  year,  to  recommend  to  him  several  Americans 
■who  desired  to  assist  at  tho  procession  of  i'alm  Sunday,  and  to  receive  a 
palm  from  the  liands  of  His  Holiness.  The  letter  terminates  with  tlieso 
■words  : 

"iVoey  our  countrymen  consider  they  have  a  right  to  address  themselves 
to  you,  esiiccially  ns  I  have  already  amiounoed  to  my  government  your  com- 
plimentary mission, /or  ichich  I  can,  assure  you  beforehand  a  most  distlngui^iteil 
reception.''''* 

Mr.  Cass,  in  writing  theue  lines,  had  not  his  eve  on  the  Italians  of  New 
York.— II.  D.  C. 


*  Tho  words  were  written  in  French  by  Mr.  Ca.«s,  anil  wo  givo  tlioni : 
"Maintennnt  nos  eotnpatriotos  s'imdgiiient  avoir  le  drnlt  do  s'a<lresscr  .-i  vous,  sp6- 
cialineiit  comfiif  j'ai  dejX  annonoo  !,.  inoa  KouveiMenuut  velie  mission  couipliuien- 
taire,  pour  laquolle  jo  puis  vous  assiii'cr  (i'MViiiu'e  luio  rooopli'vi  bion  disiiii^uoo." 

24* 


IMAGE  EVALUATrON 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


^ ' 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


!!f  m 

t.  ,,  — — 

II  1.8 
U    111.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


V  #,  ^  ^, 


y 
^ 


562 


APPENDIX. 


il-:'-\ 


it:;    ■'.    (| 


f  '"- 


M^ 


The  Italian  Prtiujors  rersui  Bkuim — Iliuiii.v  Ixikukstino   Si'ekchks—" 

COSDKMXATORV    RESOLUTIONS    AM)    Un\XIM0I8    PllOCEEDINGS. 
[Reported  for  the  Now  York  Exiiress.] 

A  VEUY  l;ir<re  upspiiiljlntre  of  tlic  Italians  who  were  oblijreil  to  fly  their 
country  for  their  devotion  to  the  ciinsp  of  liljerty  in  184S,  entliered  last  iiisrht 
at  tlie  Stuyvesant  Institute,  in  order  formally,  and  as  a  body,  to  declare  their 
opinions  as  to  the  jniblic  and  private  eharaoter  of  Monseif^neur  Bedini. 
The  room  of  the  Young  Men's  Democratic  National  Club  was  excessively 
crowded  by  the  exiles,  ainonof  whom  we  observed  several  Italian  Indies. 
The  proeeedinu's  were  marked  by  the  wannest  enthusiasm,  and  the  coin- 
pletest  unanimity  of  feeling  and  action. 

At  eight  o'clock,  Siguor  (Jajani  nominated  Professor  Felix  Foresti  as 
Chairman,  which  tiie  meeting  unanimously  approved. 

Signor  Gfijani,  in  turn,  was  elected  Viee-president,  and  Signor  Miinetta, 
Seeretary. 

Letters  of  iipology  were  received  from  General  Avezzana  and  Mr.  Hugh 
Forbes,  both  of  whom  declared  their  sympathies  with  the  objects  of  the 
meeting,  but  were  unavoidably  absent  from  serious  indisposition. 

A  deputation  of  Frenchmen,  from  tlie  ''Mountain  Division  of  the  Society 
of  Universal  Republicans,"  here  entered  the  room,  and  proceeded  to  the 
President's  table  ;  they  were  received  with  great  cheering.  One  of  tlieir 
number  addressed  the  President  on  behalf  of  the  Society,  after  which  thoy 
retired  to  the  front  form,  and  remained  during  the  entire  proceedings. 

iSignor  Foresti  then  rose,  amid  reiterated  applause  and  shouts  of  "Bravo," 
to  address  the  meeting.    Ho  spoke  in  Italian,  to  this  ett'ect : 

" Bcdini  entered  the  confjuered  cii^  with  his  Croats. 

lie,  clothed  with  perfect  sovereign  power,  proclaimed  martuil  law  throughout 
all  the  territory  of  the  Four  Legations.  By  this  brutal  law  are  suspended 
ivt  once  all  other  laws,  preservative  of  order  and  justice;  customary  form.s  of 
procedure  abolished  ;  judges  are  constituted  from  soldiers  of  rank,  and  sen- 
tence is  sumuuirily  passed,  by  tap  of  drum,  to  death,  to  the  galleys,  to 
exile,  to  the  bastinado.  This  law  was  enforced  by  a  priest — by  Bedini.  It 
came  not,  it  could  not  come,  from  the  Austrian  general.  To  make  or  ab- 
rogate laws  is  an  attribute  of  sovereignty,  and  this  attribute  had  been  dele- 
gated by  the  Pope  to  Bedini,  and  not  to  the  general.  ]5ut  this  law  was  a 
terrible  instrument  of  vengeance  in  the  lumds  of  Bedini,  and  he  made  use 
of  it  without  mercy.  "We  defy  the  apologists  of  Bedini  to  deny  it.  Let 
ihem  read  all  the  journals  in  the  pay  of  the  government  at  that  accursed 
epoch.  They  will  see  that  in  Bologna,  in  other  cities,  iii  the  towns  or  vil- 
lages of  the  Four  Legations,  there  were  published  numerous  sentences  of 
death,  of  imprisonment,  or  of  exile.  They  may  lind  in  these  journals  the 
names  of  the  victims,  and  the  day  of  their  sacrifice.  Tiiey  will  see  that 
the  police  of  Bedini,  like  hungry  wild  beasts,  hunted  after  and  ferreted  out 
the  republieans.  On  every  side,  families  had  some  of  their  inemhers  under 
interdiction  from  leaving  the  house  under  severe  penalties  ;  others  sull'ering 
domiciliary  perquisition-;  fur  su.-pccted  papiTs  :  at  the  posL-otficc,  the  »n- 


\    Si'KECHKS— • 
iUINOS. 


<1  to  fly  their 
;re(l  last  iiisrht 
.)  decliire  tlieir 
i^iienr  Bedini. 
as  excessively 
Jtaliiiu  ladies, 
and  tiic  com- 

lix  Forest!  as 

^'iior  Mnnetta, 

nd  Mr.  Hucfh 
objects  of  tlie 
on. 

of  tlic  Society 
ceeded  to  the 
One  of  '.'.leir 
:er  wliicii  they 
cediuys. 
s  of  "Bravo," 

til  his  Croats, 
iw  throughout 
re  suspended 
tnary  forms  of 
nk,  and  sen- 
e  galleys,  to 
)y  Bedini.    It 
make  or  ab- 
ad  been  dele- 
is  law  was  a 
he  made  use 
eny  it.     Let 
that  accursed 
towns  or  vil- 
sentences  of 
journals  the 
will  see  that 
1  ferreted  out 
jmhers  under 
lurs  snlferinfif 
tfiec,  tlie  Bft- 


APPENDIX. 


563 


erednesp  of  sealed  letters  was  violated  ;  persons  were  summarily  bnnished 
without  form  cf  trial  ;  for  the  slightest  doubtful  expression,  or  even  word; 
for  the  slightest  >uspicion  was  awarded  prison  and  persecution.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Bedini  was,  in  short,  a  real  I'dgin  of  terror. 

•'  Bedini,  say  his  apolotrists,  had  not.  the  right  or  the  power  to  chock  or 
modify  the  evils  arising  from  the  existence  of  martial  law  in  the  provinces. 
But  I  ask,  who  could  and  who  did  proclaim  this  marital  luio  f  The  Sov- 
ereign alone,  the  Pope.  Who  represented  the  Pope  in  the  Four  Legations? 
Bedini.'  What  was  the  position  of  the  Austrian  general  in  Bologna?  Sim- 
ply that  of  a  general,  called  and  paid,  together  with  his  troops,  to  reconquer 
for  the  Pope  the  Romagna  from  the  power  of  the  Kepublicans.  Tlie  spirit 
and  the  will  was  Bedini — the  corporeal  part  of  the  compound  was  the  Aus- 
trian general.  Who  collected  and  put  into  judicial  form  the  evidence  and 
the  witnesses  to  condemn  the  patriots?  The  local  police.  Who  arrested 
the  persons  suspeoted  ?  Wlio  assigned  their  prisons  ?  Who  directed  their 
administration  ?  Who  named  the  Italian  Cuncillire  of  the  court-martial  ? 
Who  caused  the  accused  to  be  brought  before  the  court-martial  ?  The  local 
poliee.     Who  was  it  who  directed  this  police  ?    Bedini. 

"  For  these  reasons,  the  populations  of  the  Romagna  do  not  curse  so  much 
the  court-martial,  but  Bedini. 

"  Had  such  a  service  been  undertaken  by  a  military  officer,  he  would,  like 
Haynau,  have  lost  every  particle  of  reputation  for  humanity.  But  what 
shall  we  say  of  a  priest,  a  minister  of  God,  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  a  mea- 
aenger  of  peace,  who  can  undertake  such  an  office  ?" 

M.  G.  Gajani  next  addressed  the  meeting,  as  follows  : 

"Ugo  Bassi  had  also  landed,  and  was  seeking  an 

apylum  in  the  same  wood,  when  he  was  taken  and  made  prisoner  of  war. 
The  body  of  troops  who  captured  him  was  commanded  by  Prince  Ernest, 
»<on  of  the  Archduke  Rassini,  who  sent  Bassi,  with  the  other  prisoners,  to 
Bologna,  to  bo  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  '  Extraordinary  Commissioner 
from  the  Four  Legations.'  This  post  is  most  important,  because  it  bestows 
soverei^'n  power,  and  is  never  created  but  in  very  perilous  times,  .ind  is 
always  given  to  a  prospective  cardinal  leirate ;  but  it  was  then  held  by 
Bedini,  because  no  cardinal  dared  go  to  Bologna  at  that  period.  Each 
Extraordinary  Commissioner  has  annexed  a  so-called  military  commission, 
to  judge  political  crimes,  of  which  council  he  is  the  supreme  president ;  it 
IS  composed  of  the  most  infamous  of  the  Pope's  police.  Bedini  had  added 
to  it  some  Austrian  officers,  but  only  for  form  sake,  as  they  did  not  under- 
stand the  Italian  languasfe.  General  Gorzkowski,  who  commanded  the  Aus- 
trian garrison  at  Bologna,  had  not  the  least  authority  over  this  council, 
which  alone  was  invested  with  judicial  authority,  and  continued  to  sen- 
tence criminals  during  the  whole  time  that  Bedini  was  there.  Furthermore, 
this  general,  who  was  iu  Italy  for  the  first  time,  and  was  ignorant  of  our 
language  and  our  affairs,  certainly  knew  nothing  of  Bassi,  and  it  could  have 
been  no  advantage  to  him  to  execute  a  poor  priest  who  had  oflfonded  the 
Pope  by  becoming  a  Christian ;  and  if  he  bud  known  him,  he  might  possi* 


564: 


APPENDIX. 


.-'■I 


'•^-  m 


bly  Imvc  syinpatliy  with  liim,  for  (Jenprnl  Gnrzkowr*l<i  is  nnt  a  Romanist. 
But  Bodini,  who  folt  afruinst  Bassl  iiiiiliiriiity  of  casto,  and  the  hatred  of  tlie 
vile  against  tlio  ;;roat  and  virtuous,  sent  liitn  to  the  Connnission,  with  or- 
ders to  condcniu  liini  to  dcatli ;  but  so  great  was  Bassi's  reputation  for 
talent  and  virtue,  that  even  these  vile  instruments  of  barbarous  venireance 
hesitated.  Bedini  (so  says  a  Turin  paper)  entered  the  eouncil-eluunber,  and 
ordered  the  sentence  of  death  to  be  pronounced.  Tiie  whole  eity  was  in 
commotion,  and  multitudes  interceded  for  Bassi,  among  whom  was  the  old 
Cardinal-archbishop  Oppizzoni ;  but  Bedhii  was  inexorable,  and  ■cited  a 
special  order  of  tlie  Pope  which  lie  had  received  j)re\  iously  to  tlie  capture. 
Thus  it  is  not  he,  but  his  olHciousi  defenders,  who  wish  to  shoulder  tho 
crime  upon  the  Austrian  general." 

Sl'EECH    OF    SiGNOR    MaNICTT.^. 

"  The  friar  Ugo  Bassi,  that  spirit  fired  with  poetic 

patriotism,  was  made  prisoner  by  tlio  Austrians,  at  the  same  time  with 
Ludovico  Liveraghi.  Being  sent  to  Bologna,  his  native  city,  he  was  joined 
on  the  way  by  other  prisoners,  whom  tlie  Papal  troops  Inid  hunted  witliout 
mercy.  On  the  7th  cf  August,  those  unhappy  men  enteral  Bologna.  What 
liad  happened  was  l<nown  to  all  the  city.  Bassi  and  Liveraghi  being 
brought,  by  a  mock  process,  before  a  court-martial,  were  condemned  to 
death.  The  Canon  Oppizzoni,  to  -whom  many  impute  the  murder  of  tho 
Bolognesc  monk,  made  a  visit  to  Bedini  on  this  subject.  Bedini,  speaking 
of  Bassi,  said,  witli  cold  and  implacable  hardness  of  heart,  '  The  Pojie  de- 
sires his  death.'  Before  executing  his  sentence,  he  determined  that  ho 
flhould  be  barbarously  martyred.  The  priests  of  tlie  Vatican  do  not  content 
themselves  with  killing — that  is  a  small  revenge  for  tlicin — they  wish  to  feel 
the  vitals  of  their  dying  victims  palpitate  in  their  hands — they  wish  to  bo 
drunk  with  blood — they  desire  to  imitate  the  hyena,  who,  before  devouring 
Lis  prey,  tyrannizes  over  its  agonies  for  a  whole  day,  Ugo  Bassi  was  dis- 
consecrated  !  The  parts  which  liad  been  anointed  with  the  holy  oil  were 
skinned  with  the  knives  of  the  priests  ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  Sth, 
seven  Croat  bullets  completed  the  sacrilegious  holocaust." 

Mr.  Bisco  next  addressed  the  meeting  in  Italian,  showing  that  Bedini 
was  tho  person  responsible  for  the  barbarities  committed  in  the  Four  Lega- 
tions, during  his  administration  of  tho  government  from  184!)  to  1852.  He 
especially  demonstrated  the  falsehood  of  the  assertion,  that  Ugo  Bassi  had 
been  executed  in  the  hurry  of  martial  law  an<l  insurrection.  Ugo  Bassi,  he 
said,  was  taken  prisoner,  near  Comachio,  by  a  patrol  of  Papal  gend'arms 
and  Croats  mixed,  and  was  conducted  about  fifty  miles,  to  Bologna.  Bedini 
himself  urged  his  condemnation,  while  tho  Archbishop  of  Bologna  exerted 
all  the  influence  he  possessed  to  have  him  spared.  There  was  considerable 
time  consumed  in  all  this,  and  in  the  ceremony  of  desecration,  so  cruelly 
performed  by  the  orders  of  Bedini — so  nmeh  time  as  to  let  the  circumstance 
of  his  condemnation  become  a  fact  well  known  tlirough  the  whole  city  the 
night  preceding  his  execution,  which  occurred  at  5  p.  m.  on  the  morning  of 


lli. 


APPENDIX. 


565 


Auffiist  8,  184S.  Ilia  destruction  had  long  been  decided  upon  by  the  Pnpal 
authorities,  if  ever  he  fell  into  their  hands.  Ills  having  sincerely  preached 
liberal  doctrines  was  u  crime  unpardonable  in  the  eyes  of  the  Popish  ec- 
clc-^iastics.  llad  Ugo  Bassi  been  guilty  oCrape,  murder,  theft,  or  any  tliins, 
such  crimes  as  we  consider  infamous,  we  know,  by  too  many  examples,  that 
the  incompetency  of  any  secular  tribunal  to  judge  him  would  have  been 
instantly  insisted  on  by  the  Eomish  clerical  authorities,  for  the  honor  and 
inviolability  of  the  sacred  office  of  priest." 

The  resolutions,  which  had  previously  been  presented  in  Italian  by  Signor 
Gajani,  were  now  read  in  English  by  Theodore  Dwight,  Esq.,  and  passed 
unanimously. 

^^  Hesolsed,  That  this  meeting  echoes  the  universal  sentiment  of  the  Italian 
people,  in  denouncing  Bedini  as  the  spy  of  the  Pope  in  Bologna — as  tiio 
implacable,  cruel,  vindictive  enemy  of  all  republicans;  and  as  the  person 
next  responsible  after  the  Pope  for  the  butchery  perpetrated  at  Bologna. 

'■^  liesolced,  That  the  various  nationalities  who  have  so  generously  demon- 
strated their  sympathy  for  the  oppressed  Italians,  and  their  liorror  for  the 
butcher  of  Bologna,  are  entitled  to  our  warm  thanks. 

^^  Jiesolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  Bedini  and 
to  the  Pope." 


Bedini 

Lega- 

12.    He 

ssi  had 

;,  he 


[From  the  New  York  Express] 
A  Call  ron  Information. 

Monseigneur  Bedini,  it  is  charged,  during  the  revo- 
lutionary struggle  for  freedom  in  Ittdy,  in  1849  and  1850,  ordered  to  execu- 
tion a  large  number  of  persons  who  had  espoused  the  liberal  cause.  Nay, 
not  only  condemned  them  to  death,  but  actually  flayed  them  alive,  and  in- 
dulged in  sundry  other  acts  of  cruelty,  which  only  a  devil  could  devise. 
That  is  the  charge.  It  has  been  made  over  and  over  again.  It  is  thrust  in 
the  face  of  the  Nuncio  wherever  he  goes,  and  we  have  publications  in  which 
names,  dates,  and  other  specifications  are  advanced  thus  : 


M. 

Bate. 

1. 
2. 

May  23, 
June  7, 

8. 

i: 

4 

14 

5. 

U 

6. 

It 

7. 
8. 
9. 

July  24, 

August  8, 

10. 
11. 

September  1, 
18, 

12. 

((                  n 

18. 

U                         (t 

14. 

^i                a 

1S49. 


A.  Bortolottl 
0.  Mariani.. . 

L.  Prati 

G.  Lanzoni. . . 
N.  Sangiorgl 
K.  Germani . , 

L.  Rioel 

Ugo  Bas.si 

G.  Lieraghi  . . 
S.  ContoH.... 
G.  Piiiochi... 
G.  Scrosta 

S.  Pl!l7.Zi.... 

G.  Gorlni.... 


Years  o/Affe. 
21 


23 
24 
4.5 

26 
23 
21 
4:5 
43 
19 
23 
.50 
40 
40 


■  1 


566 


Ko, 

Date. 

15. 

Sept          18, 

16. 

21, 

17. 

27, 

18. 

October      8, 

19. 

"          80, 

30. 

u                 <> 

21. 

tl              11 

22. 

it                (( 

23. 

December  28, 

2t. 

ii            tl 

25. 

11            It 

26. 

January     3f», 

2T. 

1.            It 

28. 

February  21, 

29. 

March       23, 

80. 

11            11 

81. 

tt            11 

83. 

<t            11 

88. 

H                      tl 

84. 

April           6, 

36. 

September  6, 

36. 

U                       11 

87. 

11              it 

88. 

ii              11 

89. 

U                    11 

40. 

«              It 

41. 

II              11 

42. 

II              11 

48. 

il              It 

44 

II                11 

45. 

11              11 

46. 

11                11 

47. 

U                      It 

4a 

11              II 

49. 

11              11 

60. 

«              II 

1849. 


1860. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 
N. 
B 
F. 
A. 
Q. 
A. 
B. 


Kamet. 

T.  Gorinl 

C.  Scrosta 

G.  Baldinl  ... 
S.  MiKanl 

C.  Gat  i 

Tiicconi 

Maretti 

Rlizl 

Lore  nzl  III... 
Tiicconl  — 

Selerl 

Guerra 

Caravlta . . . 

G.  Grozia 

G.  Montanari. . 

D.  Berto.ii.... 

A.  Cagnazzi . . . 
C.  Montaniirl.. 

Gulmanelll. 
Baruffiildi.. 
P.  Zappi 

B.  Folli 

O.  Lftinberti... 

A.  Pogsfiali 

J.  Mirrf. 

C.  Ciisohtii.... 
G.  Contavalli.. 

Folli 

Lainberti. . . 

Ciizziari 

S.  Borglii 

G.  Albertazzi. . 

G.  Farolfl 

F.  Mita 

P.  Moluzzi . . . . 
A.  Garottl 


C. 
L. 


1). 
L. 
A. 


Teart  ofAgt^ 
40 
88 
83 
27 
21 
20 
25 
23 
29 
28 
28 
25 
28 
80 
80 
25 
27 
81 
2T 
23 
23 
23 
22 
24 
21 
28 
25 
21 
28 
84 
21 
22 
28 
20 
2  > 
25 


"We  have  said  that  the  execution  of  all,  and  the  extra  torture  of  Pome,  of 
these  persons,  is  said  to  have  been  the  handiwork  of  Monseigneur  Eedini. 
The  charge  is  made  with  sufficient  definiteness  and  circumstantiality  to 
entitle  it  certainly  to  consideration,  under  tlio  pccHliar  circumstances  in 
which  this  ambassador  of  the  Pope  now  finds  himself.  We  do  not  know 
that  the  allegations  are  true.  Wo  cannot  say  whether  M.  Bedini  is  a  mur- 
derer or  not.  But  we  should  like  to  know,  and  it  is  "vith  a  view  to  arrive 
at  the  truth  tliat  we  give  the  extraordinary  charges  against  him  a  place  ia 
our  columns.  We  trust  it  will  have  the  effect  of  bringing  out  the  other  side, 
80  that,  between  the  accused  and  his  accusers,  we  may  be  enabled  to  form 
an  impartial  judgment.  We  do  not  want  vague  denials  for  assertions,  un- 
supported by  acknowledged  facts.  We  earnestly  desire  M.  Bedini's  friends 
to  be  at  least  as  specific  and  particular,  as  regards  dates  and  names,  as  hi» 
opponents  are.    We  have  had  denials  in  general  terms,  enough,  to  bo  sure ; 


reara  o/Affa, 
40 
83 
83 
27 
21 
20 
25 
23 
23 
23 
28 
25 
28 
80 
80 
25 
27 
81 
2T 
23 
23 
23 
22 
24 
21 
28 
25 
21 
23 
84 
21 
22 
28 
20 
2> 
25 


un- 


APPENDIX. 


507 


( 


but  what  we  earnestly  desire  now  are  the  specifications.  Is  it  true  tlint  tho 
above-mentioned  persons  were  executed?  1«  it  true  tliut  tliey  were  exe- 
cuted for  political  oll'ences,  and  that  those  offences  were  coniinitled  during 
the  revolutionary  struggle  of  1848?  Is  it  true  that  tliese  men  cunio  to 
their  death  by  tiie  instrumentality  of  Monseigneur  Bedini?  Is  it  true  tliut 
he  not  only  deprived  them  of  life,  but  that  he  compelled  them  to  undergo 
the  most  excruciating  tortures,  before  life  was  extinct  i  Is  it  true  that  tlie 
Lands  of  this  illustrious  stranger,  whom  our  city  government  have  been 
formally  honoring,  are  red  with  the  blood  of  these  Italian  martyrs  to  Free- 
dom?     We  call  upon  tho  friends  of  M.  Bedini  to  come 

out  in  his  defence,  if  they  can ;  to  show  the  groundlessness  of  the  grave 
offences  for  which  he  is  arraigned,  if  they  can.  We  call  upon  the  Freemaii's 
Journal  to  speak  out.  Gentlemen,  give  us  tiie  documents  I  We  have  heard 
the  prosecution  patiently — we  are  now  prepared  to  pass  to  the  defence ! 
What  say  you — guilty  or  not  guilty  ? 


[From  the  official  paper,  Gazzetta  dl  Bologna,  No.  117,  May  18, 1849.] 

Nolification. 

On  account  of  the  stubborn  resistance  made  with  arms  in  hand  to  the  tri- 
umphant Austrian  forces  destined  to  re-establish  in  this  city  as  elsewhere  the 
legitimate  authority  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff",  and  on  account  of  the  faction  of 
wicked  people,  mostly  foreigners,  who  had  usurped  the  power  in  this  place, 
as  well  as  on  account  of  my  desire  to  bring  about  peace  and  order,  I  have 
come  to  the  determination  oi  declaring  fur  the  present  that  the  city  of  Bologna 
is  in  a  state  of  siege.    Accordingly  I  order  what  follows  : 

1.  All  persons  who  have  arms  of  any  kind,  long  or  short,  for  cut  or  thrust, 
or  firearms,  and  all  persons  who  have  in  their  possession  gunpowder  or  gun- 
cotton,  or  any  other  warlike  munitions,  shall  be  obliged  to  give  them  all  up 
to  the  Commission  appointed,  and  in  the  place  named  by  the  Magistracy, 
within  forty-eight  hours  from  the  publication  of  the  present  edict.  In  giv- 
ing up  such  property  each  one  is  free  to  accompany  it  with  a  description  of 
the  same,  and  with  his  name,  for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  what  belongs  to 
him  in  proper  time.  This  clause  does  not  extend  to  the  corps  of  regular 
troops. 

2.  The  Pontifical  Arms  or  Ensigns  shall  be  put  up  again  in  tho  usual 
places  without  delay. 

8.  The  political  meetings  known  by  the  name  of  Circoli,  Casini,  and  other 
Buch  titles,  are  forbidden. 

4.  Gatherings  in  the  street,  and  other  assemblages  of  a  seditious  nature, 
are  prohibited. 

5.  For  the  present  no  city  gates  shall  remain  open,  except  those  of  San 
Felice,  Galliera,  Maggiore,  and  Castiglione,  with  the  proviso  that  they  shall 
be  closed  from  ten  o'clock  at  night  until  daybreak. 

6.  By  eleven  o'clock  at  night  all  places  of  public  resort  shall  be  closed, 
such    as    Hotels,  Boarding-houses,   Eating-houses,   Taverns,    Wine-shops, 


508 


APPENDIX. 


Drinking-houses,  Coffee-houses,  and  such  like ;  and  citizens  must  retire  to 
their  dwellings,  not  later  than  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

In  reference  to  the  persons  of  I'liysiciaiis  and  Ecclesiastics,  proper  excep- 
tion will  be  made  by  grunting  such  licenses  as  may  bo  needed. 

7.  The  Press  is  subject  to  censorship  before  publication. 

8.  Volunteer  companies  {corpi  franchi)  of  every  kind  arc  disbanded;  the 
militia  {la  civka)  is  suspended,  and  the  former  and  the  latter  shall  give  up 
their  arms  and  munitions. 

It  is  forbidden  to  wear  the  uniform  or  badge  belonging  to  the  bodies 
aforesaid,  or  to  wear  the  tricolor  cockade,  or  other  similar  i)arty  badges.  It 
is  strictly  enjoined  upon  all  persons,  whose  position  calls  for  it,  to  wear  the 
bicolor  pontifical  cockade. 

JJisuhedience  and  carelessness  will  he  punished  with  the  full  ligor  of  martial 
law,  and  let  it  be  well  viidevstuod,  that  this  law  condemns  the  offender,  even  for 
Tioldinff  or  keeping  warlike  arms  and  munitions,  ly  having  him  tried  hy  court- 
martial  (giudizio  slatario),  and  shot  within  twenty-four  hours, 

I  hope  that  this  exceptional  state  of  things  may  cease  in  a  short  time, 
through  the  good  conduct  and  good  sense  of  the  citizens,  and  that  the  Envoy 
of  His  Holiness,  appointed  to  represent  him,  may  soon  directly  and  fully  ex- 
ercise his  peaceful  mission  in  your  midst. 

From  head-quarters  in  Borgo  Panigale,  May  17,  1849. 

GORZKOWSKI, 

Royal  Imperial  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


[From  the  official  paper,  Gazzetta  dl  Bologna,  May  26, 1849.] 

Pontifical  G  overniient. 

In  the  name  of  his  Holiness,  Pope  Pius  IX., 
To  the  people  of  the  Legations  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Forli,  and  Kavenua. 

J^dict. 

To  the  end  that  in  the  four  provinces  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Forli,  and  Ra- 
venna, now  restored  to  the  dominion  of  the  Holy  See,  the  public  adminis- 
tration be  no  longer  retarded,  we  announce  and  provisionally  ordain  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  The  government  of  the  Sovereign  PontitF  is  restored,  and  all  acts  shall 
issue  in  his  name.  The  Pontifical  Commissary,  invested  with  extraordinary 
powers,  is  assisted  by  four  Counsellors,  one  chosen  for  each  province. 

2.  Each  province  shall  have  a  Delegate  with  his  Board  of  Counsellors. 

8.  The  several  police  establishments  are  confirmed  in  each  province  with 
the  powers  assigned  by  the  Pontifical  laws,  the  same  to  be  in  ordinary  ser- 
vice under  the  orders  of  the  Civil  Governor  and  local  military  authority,  and 
in  other  respects  dependant  on  the  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  and  oq 
Monsignorc  the  Commissary  resident  at  Bologna. 

4.  (Restores  the  mail  communication.) 

5.  (Restores  censorship  of  the  press.) 

6.  (Restores  officers  in  oifice  on  the  Ifith  November,  1848.) 


APPEJSDIX. 


669 


it  retire  to 
per  excep- 

ndod ;  tlie 
11  give  up 

the  bodies 
judges.  It 
0  wear  the 

of  martial 
r,  even  for 
d  hy  court- 

hort  time, 
the  Envoy 
id  fully  ex- 

1849. 

of  Cavalry. 


Ravenua. 


|,  and  Ra- 

adminia- 

lin  as  fol- 

lacts  bIiuU 
prdinary 

36. 

Ilora. 

|nce  ■with 

lary  ser- 

ity,  and 

and  01) 


7.  (Annuls  any  aliunntion  of  ecdcsiaHtical  property.) 

8.  (Maintains  municipal  bodies  as  tlicy  are.) 

0.  Judges  and  tribunals  shall  resume  the  exercise  of  their  functions,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  and  regulations  in  being  on  the  ICth  of  November, 
1848,  and  their  decisions  shall  bo  executed  in  the  name  of  his  Holiness  I'opo 
Pius  IX. 

10.  Causes  pending  can  bo  resumed  only  before  competent  judges  and 
tribunals  in  the  state  and  position  in  which  tliey  are,  by  the  simple  act  of  an 
attorney,  or  parties  where  there  is  no  attorney. 

C.  Beui.ni. 
Bologna,  May  2G,  1849. 


[From  the  official  paper,  Gaztetta  (11  Bolognn,  No.  183,  Juno  6, 1849.] 
I^^olijication. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  known  to  everybody  what  crimes,  transgres- 
fiions,  and  derelictions  of  duty  are  judged  by  tiie  military  authorities  and  tlio 
laws  of  war;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  bold- 
ness and  malice  of  some  who  seek  to  elude  the  regulations  having  for  their 
aim  the  safety  of  the  state,  of  tlie  army,  of  person,  and  of  property,  I  find  it 
necessary  to  declare  as  follows : 

All  crimes,  transgressions,  and  derelictions  of  duty  taking  place  in  the 
Four  Legations  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Kavenna,  and  Forli,  arc  judged  by  the 
military  authorities,  or  by  tlie  ordinary  civil  authorities.  The  military  au- 
thorities juilgo  either  by  Court-Martial  {(jludizio  statario),  or  by  Council  of 
War  {coiviilio  dl  guerra).  The  Court-Martial  (lo  statario)  knows  no  puuish- 
mcnt  but  that  of  death. 

A. — By  the  Court-Martial  (xtatario)  arc  judged  the  following  offences : 

1.  High-Treason;  and  hence  every  act  directed  to  change  forcibly  the  ri  '  ■ 
tern  of  Government,  or  to  draw  upon  it  or  to  increase  any  danger  from  oiii,- 
tiide  tlie  state. 

2.  The  keeping,  hiding,  and  transmitting  of  arms  and  munitions.  Con- 
S3quently  the  public  is  specially  forewarned  that  capital  sentence  will  be 
pronounced  upon  any  individual,  without  distinction  of  rank  or  of  previous 
irreproachable  conduct,  if  arms  or  warlike  munitions  be  found  upon  his 
person,  or  in  his  dwelling,  or  in  any  place  where  it  can  be  proven  that  they 
were  put  by  his  act. 

8.  rarticiimtion  in  insurrectionary  movements  or  sedition,  with  anna  or 
■without. 

4.  Illegal  enrolling,  as  also  every  attempt  to  induce  to  desertion  individuals 
bound  to  the  military  service. 

5.  Actual  or  violent  resistance  against  sentinels,  platoons,  and  in  general 
against  Austrian  or  Pontifical  soldiers,  among  whom  are  comprised  the  uni- 
formetl  constabulary  (i  carahiniei-i).  Notice  is  given  that  sentinels  and 
platoons  have  the  right  to  fire  upon  those  who  should  molest  them. 

6.  Kobbery  and  plunder  by  violence,  whether  with  the  use  of  arms  or 
■without,  and  whether  it  be  the  work  of  one  or  more  persons. 


1-4(4 


670 


APPENDIX. 


B.— By  ft  Council  of  AVur  are  judged  tlio  following  oflfences  : 

7.  Tlic  K|ireadinjf  of  revolutionary  documents. 

8.  Every  oiitruge  towarda  a  military  jiersou  not  embraced  under  No.  5  of 
tlii;!  article. 

9.  Tiie  beariMfjr  of  rcvolutioiinry  or  party  badges  not  Austrian  or  Pontiflca\. 

10.  Tlie  flinging  of  revolutionary  songs. 

11.  All  kind,  of  public  political  dcniunstrations  in  the  streets,  or  in  other 
public  places. 

12.  Any  ilisobedionco  to  the  orders  and  intimations  of  military  authorities, 
seniineis,  platoons,  ifec. 

13.  Street  gatlieriiigs  and  other  assemblnges  of  a  seditious  character. 

14.  Attending  political  meetings,  whatever  their  mime,  unles.-*  embraced 
under  iho  regulations  set  forth  under  the  letter  A. 

15.  Omitting  to  clo,>c  Colfce-houses,  Eating-houses,  Taverns,  and  other 
places  of  resort  at  the  establisiied  hour. 

16.  Any  transgression  against  the  precautionary  censorsiiip  of  the  Press. 

17.  Harboring  strange  persons  without  informing  the  authorities. 

18.  Destroying  wantonly  or  tearing  down  Pontilical  Arms  or  Ensigns. 
All  such  otfeiicea  will  bo  punished,  according  to  the  importance  of  the 

case,  by  imprisonment  from  one  month  to  one  or  more  years,  or  again  by  a 
fine  for  the  beiieflt  of  some  charitable  institution. 

All  other  crimes,  transgrer*sions,  or  omissions,  not  embraced  tmder  the  ar- 
ticles headed  by  the  letters  A  und  B,  are  judged  according  to  the  existing 
Pontilical  laws  by  the  proper  civil  authorities. 

Ej'oni  head-quarters  in  the  Villa  Spada,  June  5,  1849. 

GoKZKOWSKr, 

Imperial  Koyal  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


[From  the  official  paper,  Gazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  207,  September  6, 1849.] 

Notijication. 

In  reference  to  Article  6  of  the  proclamation  5th  of  last  June,  which  places 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  court-martial  (gludizio  atatario  inilUare)  all  of- 
fences of  robbery  and  plunder  by  violence,  and  talking  into  consideration  the 
inva>ion8  and  de|iredations  which  have  been  going  on  for  some  time  past  in 
the  country,  to  the  serious  loss  and  terror  of  peaceable  inhabitants  through 
tlie  acts  of  lawle>s  men  who  prowl  about  witli  am  ■*,  and  who  up  to  the  pres- 
ent liave  inaiuiged  to  escape  the  vigilance  of  the  armed  police,  the  })ublic  are 
informed  us  follows: 

1.  In  addition  to  the  respectable  reinforcements  sent  to  the  corps  of  armed 
policemen  {caraOinieri),  wlio  justly  claim  the  merit  of  several  important  ar- 
rests recently  made,  strong  movable  columns  of  the  Imperial  Koyal  troops 
will  traverse  the  ne'.ghborhoods  most  infected  by  Brigands,  so  as  to  discover 
tlieir  haunts,  to  arrest  them,  and  shoot  immediately  all  of  them, 

(a.)  who  should  be  taken  in  the  flagrant  act  of  an  aggression  or  invasion; 

(6.)  who  should  otter  resistauce  to  the  armed  force ; 


Oi-  •    I 


dcr  No.  6  of 

Dr  Pontiflca\. 

I,  or  in  other 

!  authorities, 

racter. 

srt  embraced 

I,  and  other 

'the  Press. 

tiC8. 

Knsigna. 
tuuce  of  the 
>r  ugain  by  a 

inder  tiie  nr- 
tlie  existing 

1  1849. 

of  Cavalry. 


hich  places 
'are)  all  of- 
eration  the 

me  past  in 
its  through 
0  tlie  prea- 

j)ublic  are 

a  of  armed 
jortant  ar- 
lyal  troops 
lo  discover 

invasion ; 


APPENDIX. 


571 


(f.)  who,  even  without  opposition,  Bhould  ho  found  holding  unlawfully 
flrearms  or  otiier  deadly  weiipons,  and  ifuilty  of  foiuior  crimes  ; 

^(/.)  wlio  should  he  iiceoniplicos  of  the  crimes  of  ilic^o  bandits  by  their 
own  acts,  whether  by  urti-riii^'  to  give  tliciu  siielter,  or  by  ailvisiii^  tiiem  of 
tile  diiiiger  near  at  hand,  or  by  giving  in  any  otiier  way,  of  their  own  accord, 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  same. 

2.  It  is  not  probalhe  that  such  evil-doers  can  hold  outlonsr,  where  they  do 
not  meet  with  active,  or  at  least  pa.-sivc,  iiid  on  the  part  of  their  respective 
towns  hiid  viiliigcs,  wliich  are  obli;;cd  to  keep  watch  over  tlio  couhtry,  es- 
pecially at  night,  and  to  lunder  idlers  and  vagal)onds  from  roving  at  large; 
BO  therefore  it  is  enacted  that  every  townslii[)  {coinminie)  legally  proven  to 
liavo  tolerated,  sheltered,  or  supiiorted  sueli  evil-doers,  to  have  advised 
them  that  tlie  armetl  force  was  near  at  hand  or  already  on  the  spot,  lo  have 
given  in  any  way  direct  or  indirect  aid  mid  comfort  to  tlio  same,  shall  lie 
mulcted  in  a  sum  to  be  settled  according  to  the  circumstances  of  tlie  case. 
One  half  of  this  sum  shall  go  to  reimhur.^o  the  injuretl  parlies,  and  the  other 
lialf  to  llio  accusers,  iftliere  should  be  any,  their  name  being  kept  secret. 

8.  Any  person  giving  up  to  the  military  force,  or  to  the  police,  a  brigand 
under  sentence  of  arrest,  and  any  person  giving  information  leading  to  the 
discovery  and  arrest  of  evil-doers  held  guilty  of  crimes  against  the  puldio 
Halety,  and  found  to  be  such  by  the  court-martial  ((/iudizio  utatario),  or  by 
the  council  of  war,  shall  receive  a  reward  of  tVom  $!i(J  to  $100,  according  to 
the  importance  of  the  case,  and  the  denouncer  shall  be  kept  secret. 

4.  Pulilic  otHcers  convicted  of  having  neglected  their  duty  in  invigilating 
and  effecting  the  arrests  of  such  evil-doers,  siiall  be  deprived  of  their  phices 
furthwilh,  and  take  their  chance  before  the  criminal  courts,  in  case  they 
should  have  acted  furthermore  witli  wilfid  malice.  Those  who  draw  no 
salary  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  proportioned  to  their  guilt. 

From  the  Imperial  Uoyul  Governor,  Civil  ntid  Military, 

Count  Sthasoluo, 
Imperial  lioyal  Lieutenant-Marshal. 


Extract  from  the  official  gazrtte,  givmo  the  Hcntevcea  provounced  by  the 
Austrian  Military  Authority  on  i/te  Fifty  Patriots,  said  to  have  been 
viurdtred  by  Muiinitjuor  Bedini. 

1.  BouTOLOTTi  Antonio. 
[CJazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  123,  May  24, 1849.] 

To  the  Chief  of  Police,  Bologna. 

Having  been  arrested  l)y  the  military  forces,  the  celebrated  robber  and 
murderer,  Antonio  Bortolotli,  was  brought  to-day  before  the  couri-marlial 
{gludizio  statario  miiitare),  condemned  to  death,  and  shot.  While  this  exe- 
cution is  othciaUy  communicated  to  tlie  Chief  of  I'olice  for  the  information 
of  the  civil  authorities,  he  is  instructed  to  make  it  public  through  the  Press. 

Ilead-quarters  at  Villa  Spada,  May  'So,  lS4t>. 

GOKZKOWSKI, 

Koyal  Imperial  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


572 


A  IT  EN  nix. 


I   f 


2.  Maiiuni  Costantino. — 3.  Tuati  Liiioi. — I.  Laxzoni  Giovanni. 

[CJiizz.'ttii  (II  noldcnij,  No.  !■'!»,  Jmio  S,  1S49.] 

Tlie  following  iiotici!  1ms  liooii  pulilislKul  lo-iliiy  : 

II'iH  Kxcc'IliMicy  tlio  Kojftl  Iiii|)crial  Govoriior  Civil  ami  Militnry,  Ooncral  of 
riiviilry,  liy  imimiiis  of  a  unv (■iiiimnt  tlispatoli,  No.  a74,  dutcil  tliis  •.lay,  litis 
orJeroil  tlm  Cliiofur  rolion  to  jnil>!i.Hli  as  t'ollowt* : 

Costiuitiiio  Mariaiii,  hiiriiamocl  Soiiiaroiio.  son  of  Domonico  liviiiur,  njrod 
2!?,  iiniiiarrictl,  poasniit,  bora  in  this  iiarish  of  Cariiiiiota  di  Ousciiu,  residing 
ill  tlio  paiisli  of  San  Carlo. 

Luijri  I'mti,  Hiiniaiiicil  Sooppotio,  of  tlio  township  of  Hcrtinoro,  t\ffc.d  24, 
uninarrieil,  jioasaiit.  IJotli  of  whom  have  bui'ii  several  times  piini.-lu'il  for 
robbery  ami  burirlary,  ami  rueeiilly  imlicteil  for  similar  erimus,  and  particu- 
larly lor  a  iiianslaughter  couniiittod  on  the  porsou  of  tlicir  comrade  Tietro 
IJcttaiii. 

Lanzoni  Giovanni,  son  of  An/?olo  decouHcd,  native  of  Stiatico,  ngod  43, 
public  cxociitioiier  of  this  city,  also  punished  several  times  for  larceny. 

All  three,  held  jruilty  for  jrood  reasons  of  hijrhway  robbery,  were  arrested 
iiriiis  in  hand,  and  therefore  brought  before  tlio  court-martial  {giudizio  statU' 
rio)  on  the  7tli  iiist.,  and  sentenced  to  bo  shot;  they  wero  accordingly  ox- 
ecuted  the  Hamc  ilay. 

Bologna,  Juno  7,  is4t>. 
r.  Roberti,  Chief  of  Tolico  of  the  rrovlnce. 

6.  Sanoiougi  Natale. — G,  Oermani  Raffaele. 

[Ga/zottii  ill  Bologna,  No.  148,  June  26, 1849.] 

Notijication. 

Gcrinani  KalTacIc,  native  of  Bologna,  aged  23,  married,  no  children,  ropo- 
makcr  by  trade,  was  caught  on  the  2;kl  inst.,  at  seven  o'clock,  V.  M.,  hiding 
at  the  corner  of  a  ntrect  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand,  which  lie  uimed  without 
effect  at  nn  Austrian  soldier  who  was  passing  bj  the  .spot.  Gerinani  was 
brought  before  tho  court-martial  {(jiudizio  statario)  on  the  24th  inst.,  And 
Bcntenced  to  be  shot. 

Nntale  Sangiorgi,  surnamcd  Risino,  native  of  Solarolo,  aged  26,  laborer, 
•was  arrested  on  the  21st  inst.,  at  Castel  Bologncse,  with  a  blunderbuss  in 
his  hand  and  a  dagger,  brought  this  day  beibro  tho  court-martial  tmd  sc*i- 
tenced  to  be  shot. 

The  sentences  wero  executed  on  the  24th  inst.,  at  seven  o'clock,  tho  bad 
qualities  of  both  the  condemned  standing  against  them,  for  they  had  both 
been  indicted  before  for  robbery  and  maiislauLrhter.  If  the  circumstancea 
of  the  present  time  compelled  mo  to  have  the  above  scnteiicos  executed,  I 
am  still  comforted  by  tho  thought  that  this  salutary  warning  fell  upon  in- 
dividuals already  judged  to  be  evil  and  dangerous  to  society.  I  trust  that  I 
shall  not  be  called  upon  for  tho  future  to  resort  to  such  .severe  measures, 
and  to  contribute  my  share  in  preventing  the  occasion,  I  hereby  grant  for 
tho  last  time  to  tho  inhabitants  of  the  Four  Legations  the  peremptory  term 


lOVANNt 


•,  Ooiicral  of 
hm  duy,  liiis 

liviiiur,  njrod 
iiiu,  residing 

TO,  aftcd  24, 
niniflifil  tor 
iiid  parlic'U- 
iriulo  I'iotro 

!0,  agod  43, 
irceny. 
cro  iirrested 
udizio  stuUi' 
ordiiigly  ox- 


Idren,  ropo- 
M.,  hiding 

jcd  without 
riniuii  WU8 
iuist.,  ft«d 

kc,  hihorer, 
Iderhiiss  in 
ll  luid  scu- 

P<,  tho  bad 

had  both 
|iiiistaiic'ea 
fcciited,  I 
upon  iti- 
Inst  tliiit  I 
liieasures, 
Igrant  for 
Itory  term 


APPENDIX. 


573 


of  three  flays,  ooimtlnjr  from  tlio  puhilcMtion  of  tho  pronent  document,  du- 
ring whioli  they  may  tfivo  up  all  arms  nml  munitions  of  war,  tbrowarnitig  ail 
tliat  aftor  snoli  tcrni  I  will  cxoo'ito  tho  law  to  it.s  fullest  rigor  uguinHt  every 
otluiider,  no  matter  wliu  lio  niav  bu. 

floHZKOWSKF, 

lioyal  Imperial  Civil  and  Military  (iovernur,  Gonerul  of  Cavalry. 

7.  Rirci  Luioi. 

[Oiizrclla  (11  noloitnn,  No.  173,  .Tiily  2.'),  IStO.] 

Lnigi  Kiooi  (and  not  Hii'('l\  .Hiiniamcd  IVttiloni,  son  of  Haptist  dccoaspd, 
nnd  of  Maria  I'assailura,  nalivo  of  Santa  Agiita  in  tlio  territory  of  Faonza, 
aged  21,  already  eondemned  to  perpetual  iinf)risoiiment  for  robbi-ry,  niarlo 
his  eseape  while  he  was  being  eonveyed  to  tho  workhouse.  In  the  month 
of  June  la^t  ho  was  caught  with  a  gun  and  pistol  in  his  Juuid  :  ho  jumped  out 
of  a  window  to  run  away,  and  aimed  his  pistol  at  the  foreo  by  which  he  waa 
followed.  Uicei  was  brought  before  the  court-martial  (<jiw/izio  sla/irrio)  otx 
the  2lth  inst.,  lie  was  condemned  to  bo  shot,  und  Iho  Hcntcnco  was  executed 
the  same  day  at  six  o'clock,  P.  M. 

8.    BaSSI    UgO. — {).    LlVRAQIlI    OlOVANNr. 

[Oftzzotta  til  Bolognn,  No.  ISO,  August  8, 1340.] 

Tho  Imperial  Royal  Austrian  troops,  by  their  untiring  activity,  have  final- 
ly succeeded  in  breaking  up  altogether  tho  gangs  of  the  iU)torious  Garibaldi, 
which  under  tho  color  of  patriotism  caused  this  neighborhood  to  swarm 
with  adventurers,  robbers,  and  assa.s.sins.  Surroundtul  little  by  little  on  ev- 
ery aide  by  tho  Imperial  Koyal  troops,  especially  those  bclo/iging  to  the  bri- 
gade of  the  youtlifid  and  bravo  Major-general  Archduke  Ernest,  these  gang.s 
finally  established  themselves  on  a  firm  footing  in  the  territory  of  San  Marino, 

However,  as  Garibaldi  saw  that  tho  Imperial  Koyal  Commanders  would 
not  be  disposed  in  any  way  to  reeogni/e  in  hitn  an  adversary  worthy  of  be- 
ing allowed  to  capitulate,  but  that  they  would  constantly  insist  upon  his 
surrendering  at  discretion,  he  found  it  the  V)cttcr  plan,  for  the  safety  of  hia 
own  person  and  family,  to  get  otf  under  cover  of  night,  together  with  about 
a  hundred  of  liis  most  trusty  followers,  going  by  Sogliano  and  Savignauo, 
towards  the  seaboard. 

With  success  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  he  succeeded,  in  fact,  in  reaching 
tho  port  of  Cesenutico,  and  after  having  compelled  the  terrilied  inhabitants 
to  furnish  him  with  whatever  could  be  laid  hold  of,  not  caring  a^all  about 
the  fate  of  his  followers,  he  embarked,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  2d  instant,  on  some  fishing  barks  which  lie  found  in  the  place. 

Notwithstanding  his  flight,  there  is  hope  left  that  ho  may  fall  in  with  the 
Imperial  Koyal  forces  on  tho  watch  towards  Rimini,  as,  with  the  small  cruft 
on  which  he  has  trusted  himself,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  put  to  sea. 

His  companions,  left  to  themselves,  and  being  without  hope  of  escape, 
Burrendered,  to  the  number  of  about  nine  hundred,  to  the  Imperial  Koyal 
Austrian  troops,  sent  to  Rimini  by  bis  Excelloncy,  General  of  Cavalry,  Goi-a- 


574 


APPENDIX, 


kowski,  Civil  nnd  Military  Governor,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring 
prompt  nnd  active  measures,  was  on  tiie  spot  in  person. — [Gazzetta,  d;c,,  Ko, 
181,  Auf/ujt  Uh.) 


!,(";  n    »il 


i .  i! 


BOI.OGNA,   AuiTUSt  4tll. 

Aa  we  foresaw  yesterday,  it  would  have  been  inipraeticabie  for  Garibaldi, 
with  a  few  foilnwers  and  his  fishinsr  smacks,  to  fjet  out  to  sea  witJiout  op- 
position from  the  Imperial  Koyal  flotilla  beatimj  the  waters  of  the  Adriatic. 

The  fact  was,  that  he  fell  in  with  it,  and  after  losini^  some  of  his  boats, 
ho  was  driven  in  shore  in  the  neit;hborhood  of  Majifnavacca,  where  he 
made  bold  to  land  ;  but  the  energetic  and  far-secinj^  General  of  Cavalry, 
Gorzkowski,  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  presupposing:  that  sucii  would  be 
the  en  ^e,  had  already  ordered  live  companies  of  Anstrian  troops,  with  two 
field-picecs  and  a  dctichinent  of  cavalry,  to  scour  that  coast. 

These  troops  captured  two  of  Garibnldi's  followers  yesterday,  nnd  gave 
chnse  to  the  others  who  were  stra/jfglinnr  in  the  neifrhborinc^  woods,  and 
making  every  effort  to  escape.  So  then,  if  the  bold  adventurer  does  not 
succeed  in  getting  away  unknown  and  alone,  there  is  every  prospect  of  hia 
being  speedily  caught. — {Gaz:.itta,  dbc,  Nu.  184,  August  8th,) 


Ht::i 


The  notorious  Ugo  Bassi,  of  Bologna,  and  Giovanni  Livrnghi  (not  Lie- 
raghi),  of  Milan,  an  Austrian  deserter,  both  officers  of  the  Garibaldi  gang, 
were  taken  with  arms  in  hand  in  the  Pontifical  territory;  were  therefore 
found  guilty,  and  executed  this  8th  day  of  August,  1849,  in  Bologna. 

JS^otlficatton, 

The  corps  of  Garibaldi  have  been  nearly  all  taken  prisoners,  either  on 
land  by  the  Imperial  Koyal  tronpa  pressing  upon  their  tracks,  or  at  sea  by 
the  Austrian  forces  composing  the  flotilla  of  the  Adriatic.  Some,  however, 
of  this  band  of  marauders  have  succeeded  in  getting  at  large,  either  before 
the  embarkation  at  Cesenatico,  when  they  were  chased  by  the  troops  on 
land,  or  after  the  debarkation  at  Magnavacca,  when  they  were  driven  back 
by  the  maritime  force.  Among  these  is  Garibaldi  himself,  who  bears  with 
him  his  wife,  in  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy. 

All  good  citizens,  especially  in  tiie  country,  are  kept  in  a  stnte  of  excite- 
ment by  these  dangerous  individuals  being  hidden  in  their  neighborhood. 
Every  one  is  reminded  tliat  it  is  forbidden  to  give  aid  or  comfort,  shelter 
or  cuuntenancc,  in  any  way,  to  such  evil-doers;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
good  citizen  to  drive  them  from  him,  and  help  all  he  can  to  discover  them, 
and  to  give  them  up  to  justice.  And  all  are  forewarned  tliat  any  person  who 
shall  knowingly  assist,  shelter,  or  countenance  the  fugitive  Gar"-uldi,  or  any 
individual  of  the  gang  by  hiir  led  and  "ommanded,  shall  be  subject  to  the 
judgment  of  tiie  court-martia'  ^^gludizio  statai-w  milUare). 

From  liead-quarters  in  V'il  a  Spada  (near  Bologna),  Ar^ust  5th,  1849. 

Goiujiowski, 
Imperial  Eoyal  Governor,  Civil  aud  ililita*y,  General  of  Cavalry. 


WL^ 


of  insurinsf 
dtu,  die.,  No. 


itirnst  4t1i. 
or  Giiribiildi, 
without  op- 
le  A<lriatie. 
jf  liis  boiits, 
■I,  wliere  he 
I  of  Cavalry, 
icli  would  be 
ps,  with  two 

[vy,  and  gave 

woods,  and 

rer  does  not 

ospect  of  his 


:hi  (not  Lie- 
ribaldi  gan?, 
pre  therefore 
ogna. 


rs,  either  on 

)r  at  sea  by 

le,  however, 

itiicr  before 

troops  on 

Iriven  back 

bears  with 

e  of  excite- 

ghborhood. 

T^brt,  slielter 

jty  of  every 

)ovc.r  them, 

lerson  who 

Jildi,  or  any 

ject  to  the 

1849. 

jf  Cavalry. 


APPENDIX. 


10.    CONTOLI   SaNTE. 


675 


[Gazzettn,  Ac,  No.  205,  September  8d.] 

Santo  Contoli.  nicknamed  Fajrgloliuo,  sou  of  Vincenzo  and  Annnnziata,  aged 
nineteen,  unmarried,  carpenter  by  trade,  born  and  re.-iding  at  Imola,  arrested 
for  bearing  arms.  His  case  having  been  introduced  and  discussed  on  yes- 
terday, September  1st,  the  court-nuirtial  on  the  same  day  passed  seutence 
that,  considering  the  excessively  bad  antecedents  of  Contoli,  who  was  for- 
merly condemned  to  one  year  of  hard  labor  on  account  of  a  wound  he  in- 
flicted, who  belongs  to  the  notorious  gang  commonly  culled  the  "  Squadrazza 
of  Imola,"  and  who  was  held,  for  serious  reasons,  to  be  the  author  of  five 
cases  of  manslaughter,  that  lie  should  be  condemned  to  death,  and  shot. 
The  sentence  was  executed  on  the  same  day. 

Bologna,  September  2d,  1849. 

11.  PiNoccHi  Giovanni, — 12.  Scrosta   Nicola. — 13.    Plazzi  Savkrio.— 
14.  GoRi.Ni  Giuseppe. — 15.  Gorini  Taddeo. — 16.  Scrosta  C. 

(The  last  mentioned  is  not  to  be  found  among  the  condemned  of  this 
period.) 

[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  217,  September  18th,  1849,] 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  notifications  of  May  iTth  and  of  the 
5th  of  June  last,  and  5th  of  September,  instant,  the  following  individuals 
were  condemned  to  death  by  court-martial  [miUtate  statario),  and  shot : 

1.  Giovanni  Pinocchi,  native  of  the  plain  of  .'^an  Lazaro  d'Aneona,  aged 
23,  porter  by  trade,  convicted  of  having  taken  from  an  Imperial  soldier  his 
bayonet,  and  with  it  stabbed  another  soldier  in  the  thigh. 

2.  Nicola  Scrosta,  of  Castelfidardo,  aged  50,  peasant,  on  previous  ocoa- 
Bions  tried  and  punished  for  robberies  and  violence ;  an  individual  of  ex- 
cessively bad  fame.  On  account  of  a  gun  found  in  his  house  loaded  with 
buckshot  and  ready  capped. 

8.  Saverio  Plazzi,  of  Cotignola,  aged  40,  laborer,  already  condemned  as  an 
accomplice  in  committing  a  manslaughter;  an  individual  of  the  worst  repu- 
tation ;  for  having  been  found  in  possession  of  a  loaded  gun. 

4.  Giuseppe  Gorini ;  and, 

5.  Taddeo  Gorini,  both  of  Budrio,  laborers,  and  guilty  of  previous  crimes; 
having  been  caught  possessing  arms. 

lY.  Baldini  Giuseppe. 

[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  227,  September  29th.] 

On  September  21st  were  discovered  by  the  public  force  during  the  night, 
near  Alfonsine,  five  assassins,  while  attempting  to  enter,  with  arms  in  hand, 
the  house  of  the  farmer  Corini.  One  was  severely  wounded ;  another,  by 
name  Giuseppe  Baldini,  called  Plazzioi,  a  moat  wicked  subject,  son  of  Fran* 


• ;  ?; 


i'    i- 


570 


APPENDIX. 


cesco,  deceased,  wns   arrested.      Being  brought  before  t!ic  court-martini 
(ronsilio  sfatario),  tliis  man  -was  condemned  to  bo  shot.    The  sentence  was 
executed  in  Lugo,  on  the  2i)th  instant. 
Bologna,  September  28th,  1841). 


18.  MiGANi  Sante. 

[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  233,  October  8tli.] 

Migani  Sante,  surnamcd  Tamburo,  son  of  Domenico  Antonio,  living,  nged 
27,  married,  has  children,  peasant,  of  Passano,  under  the  governorship  of 
Coriano,  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  life  for  burglary  and  robbery,  es- 
caped from  tlie  fortress  of  Forli.  Having  been  subsequently  arrested,  and 
found  bearing  a  long,  sharp  dagger,  he  was  brought  before  tlie  court-martial 
{(jiudizlo  statai'io),  and  there,  on  Saturday,  October  (jth,  Sante  Migani  was 
condemned  by  a  unanimous  vote  to  be  shot.  The  sentence  was  executed 
the  same  day,  in  Bologna. 

19.  Gatti  Carlo. — 20.  Tacooni  Antonio. — 21.  Moretti  Vincenzo. — 22. 

Rizzi  LUIGT, 
[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  263,  October  Slst.] 
Iatperial  Royal  Government,  Ch'il  and  Military. 

Notice. 

The  strict  surveillance  exercised  over  the  evil-doers  and  vagabonds  who 
swarm  in  the  territory  of  the  Legation  of  Bologna,  and  the  activity  with 
which  they  are  treated  according  to  the  terms  of  martial  law  in  cases  of  at- 
tempts and  crimes  against  the  safety  of  persons  and  of  property,  have  not 
sufficed,  up  to  the  present  time,  to  hinder  entirely  such  misdeeds,  for  tliey 
are  repeated  from  time  to  time  in  this  neighborhood,  and  even  in  the  city 
of  Bologna.  Yesterday,  however,  an  unheard-of  burglary  and  robbery  was 
committed  with  unusual  boldness,  in  broad  daylight,  in  one  of  the  principal 
thoroughfares  of  this  city,  at  San  Felice,  in  the  house  of  Marquis  Descarani. 
Several  armed  individuals  effected  an  entrance  into  the  rooms  of  the  Secre- 
tariate, situated  on  the  ground-floor.  They  used  outrageous  violence  on 
the  only  clerk  who  was  there  at  the  time,  and,  muffling  him  up  in  a  cloak, 
they  took  possession  of  all  the  money  and  valuable  effects  they  could  lay 
their  hands  on. 

By  a  fortunate  accident,  the  thieves  having  fled  with  their  booty,  were 
discovered  almost  immediatelj',  in  the  sliop  of  the  shoemaker  Luigi  Kizzi, 
at  the  bridge  of  Sant'Aroangelo,  one  of  the  accomplices,  where  the  police 
force  succeeded,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Imperial  Royal  soldiery,  in  cap- 
turing the  four  individuals  hereinafter  mentioned,  and  nearly  all  the  stolen 
property. 

Carlo  GatM,  son  of  Domenico,  deceased,  aged  21,  ropemaker  by  trade,  un- 
married, resident  in  Sologna. 


} 


couvt-mnrt'ml 
Bcntenco  was 


,  livinf,',  ftgcfl 
ircrnoi'rtliip  of 
1  robbery,  ea- 
arrcsted,  and 
court-mnrtiul 
3  Migani  was 
was  executed 


INCKNZO. 22. 


a  Military. 


igabonds  who 
activity  with 
|u  cases  of  at- 
irty,  have  not 
eds,  for  they 
11  in  the  city 
robbery  was 
the  principal 
is  Descarani. 
of  the  Secre- 
violenco  on 
[ip  in  a  cloak, 
|iey  could  lay 

booty,  were 

Luigi  Kizzi, 

\e  the  police 

fiery,  in  cap- 

11  the  stolen 

U  trade,  un- 


AITENDIX. 


577 


Antonio  Tacconi,  son  of  Odoardo,  deceased,  aged  20,  blacksmith,  unmar- 
ried, from  Lavino  di  Mezzo. 

Vinconzo  Moretti,  t>on  of  Carlo,  deceased,  surnamcd  Jl  guercio,  aged  25, 
uhoemaker,  unmarried,  residing  in  Bologna. 

Luigi  Kizzi,  son  of  Domenico,  living,  aged  28,  shoemaker,  unmarried,  also 
of  Bologna. 

The  proofs  of  the  guilt  of  these  four  evil-doers  of  notorious  bad  charac- 
ter, already  well  known  for  previous  outrages,  were  so  strong,  that,  in  spite 
of  their  obstinate  denial,  it  was  impossible  to  hesitate  on  the  application  to 
tlieir  new  crime  of  the  military  law  {legge  stataria)  to  its  full  extent. 

In  accordance,  therefore,  with  tlie  tenor  of  the  notifications  of  the  Impe- 
rial Koyal  government,  civil  and  military,  dated  June  r)th  and  September 
Cth  of  the  present  year,  they  were  all  four  condemned  to  death  and  shot 
forthwith,  near  the  guardhouse  of  Sant'Agnese,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  con- 
course of  the  population,  who,  being  terrified  by  the  outrages  and  robberies 
that  are  repeated  even  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  by  the  difficulty  of 
finding  out  their  autJiors,  called  for  a  prompt  infliction  of  well-deserved 
punishment  in  this  case,  in  which  Divine  Providence  brought  the  guilty  so 
tpeedily  into  tlie  hands  of  justice,  as  a  solemn  and  salutary  warning  to 
otlier  evil-doers. 

Bologna,  October  ROth,  1840. 

2.3.  LoRENZiNi  FiLFPPo. — 24.  Tacconi  Antonio. — 25.  Sellkri  Gaetano. 
[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  300,  December  29th.] 

1.  Lorenzini  Filippo,  son  of  Angclo,  living,  aged  19,  born  in  Baricella; 

2.  Tacconi  Antonio,  son  of  Domenico,  living,  aged  26,  bom  in  Minerbio ; 
8.  Selleri  Gnctano,  son  of  Luigi,  deceased,  aged  26,  born  in  Altedo,  all 

three  unmarried,  country  laborers,  residing  at  Ca  de'  Fabbi,  governorship 
of  Budrio,  on  the  evening  of  the  21st  instant  entered,  arms  in  hand,  the 
country  residence  and  actual  dwelling-place  of  Signor  Antonio  Codini,  situ- 
ated in  San  (Horgio  di  Piano,  with  the  intention  of  robbing  him  by  violence 
of  his  money. 

They  knocked  at  the  front  door  and  passed  themselves  off  for  policemen, 
by  the  word  "  /V^^wm,"  and  the  door  was  opened,  Lorenzini  entered  first, 
and  collaring  the  rustic  who  had  opened  the  door,  threatened  to  kill  him, 
and  commanded  him  to  point  out  to  them  the  room  of  his  master.  Tac- 
coni and  Sclleri  entered  almost  at  the  same  moment,  and  went  up  stairs 
with  the  servant  to  the  second  story,  and  to  the  rooms  where  Signor  Codini 
was,  with  his  family.  The  public  force  of  the  Pontifical  Light  Infantry,  of 
the  detachment  of  S.an  Giorgio,  being  previously  apprised  in  secret  of  this 
business,  had  been  lying  in  wait  in  the  place  since  the  evening  before,  and 
arrested  in  flagrante  Lorenzini  alone,  while  the  other  two,  Tacconi  and 
Selleri,  took  to  their  heels,  going  out  the  same  way  they  had  entered,  the 
door  having  been  left  open.  During  the  night,  however,  they  too  were  ar- 
rested 

The  trial  having  come  on,  one  made  a  full  confession  of  hia  guilt ;  the 

25 


578 


APPENDIX. 


14 


V.  !<! 


Other  two,  nUlionofh  dcnyin;^  every  thing,  were  convicted  by  the  confession 
of  tiieir  accomplice  and  the  deposition  of  witnesses.  Yesterday  tiieir  ctiso 
•was  laid  before  tiie  coiirt-inartiul  {ci'iudlzio  atiturio),  and  afier  discu3>ion, 
they  were  all  three  found  guilty  of  the  invasion  as  above  described,  and 
condemned  to  be  shot. 

Tiie  sentence  was  executed  yesterday  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.,  at  Bologna,  in  the 
meadow  of  Sant'  Antonio. 

26.  Gderra  Antonio. — 2*7.  Cauavita  Bonafedk. — 28.  Grazia  Or, 

(The  last  mentioned  is  not  to  be  Ibund  among  the  condemned  of  thiu 
period.) 

[Qazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  26,  January  3l8t] 

Bologna,  January  81st,  1850. 

Towards  evening  on  the  14th  day  of  August,  1849,  a  gang  of  seven  or 
eight  armed  marauders  entered  the  dwelling  of  the  brothers  Amadei,  landed 
proprietors  of  San  Savino,  parish  of  Fusignano,  robbing  them,  with  vio- 
lence and  cruelty,  of  the  best  that  could  be  found,  to  the  value  of  $197.42. 

The  following  persons  were  legally  convicted  of  the  crime  : 

1.  Guerra  Antcnio,  surnamed  Scaranino,  son  of  Luigi,  deceased,  aged  25, 
Tinmarried,  born  at  Fusignano,  residing  near  Lugo  ; 

2.  Caravita  Bonafede,  aged  23,  unmarried  ; 
8.  Caravita  Francesco,  aged  27,  married  ; 

4.  Caravita  Costanti,  aged  25,  unmarried:  sons  of  Bartolommeo, deceased, 
country  laborers  of  Fusignano ;  and  yesterday,  by  sentence  of  the  court- 
martial  (giudizio  statario),  the  two  first  were  condemned  to  be  shot,  which 
was  done  the  same  day ;  the  other  two  were  condemned  to  fifteen  years'  im- 
prisonment each. 

29.  MoNTANARi  Gaetano. — 30.  Bertoni  Domenico. — 31.  Caqnazzi  Ago8- 

TIXO. — 32.    MONTANARI    CoSTANTE. — 33.    GuLMANELLI   CaRLO. 

[Gazzetta,  Ac,  No.  T4,  April  2d,  1S50.] 

Bologna,  April  1st,  1850. 
On  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  last  March,  an  entrance  was  effected  into 
the  house  of  Signer  Mauro  Vassura,  proprietor,  by  six  armed  maraudera, 
and  a  robbery  committed  of  about  $1000.    The  following  persona  were  ar- 
rested as  authors  of  the  crime  : 

1.  Bianchi  Gaetano,  born  at  Ferrara,  porter,  married,  with  children,  aged 
88,  residing  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

2.  Montanari  Costante,  surnamed  Guaccio,  aged  31,  laborer,  born  at  Sau 
Michele,  married,  with  children,  residing  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

8.  Montanari  Gaetano,  surnamed  Baiocco,  laborer,  born  at  Piangipane, 
aged  80,  married,  with  children,  domicil  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

4.  Gulmanelli  Carlo,  aged  27,  born  at  Russi,  unmarried,  laborer,  with  no 
fixed  domicil. 

5.  Bertoni  Domenico,  surnamed  Spentaccbione,  porter,  married,  with  chil- 
lioD,  aged  25,  of  Borgo  Adriano 


confosaion 
their  caso 
liscu3>ion, 
ribed,  and 

2na,  in  the 


kZIA   G. 

lied  of  this 


,l9t,  1850. 
of  seven  or 
ttdei,  lunded 
I,  with  vio- 
f  $197.42. 

,ed,  aged  25, 


30,  deceased, 

■)f  the  couvt- 

shot,  which 

sn  years'  im- 


NAZZI  AgOS- 
lRLO. 

list,  1850. 

\ffected  into 
1  iniiraudere, 
ins  were  ar- 

lldren,  aged 

bora  at  San 

Piangipane, 

er,  with  no 

L  with  chil- 


APPENDIX. 


579 


6.  Cagnazzi  Agostino,  surnamed  11  flglio  delta  Cavretta,  aged  27,  unmar- 
ried, laborer,  of  Borgo  Adrlano;  all  of  bad  fume  for  grievous  larcenies, 
having  been  found  guilty  by  proofs,  their  own  confession,  the  finding  of  a 
good  part  of  the  stolen  property,  and  of  their  weapons.  On  the  23d  of 
March  they  were  sentenced  by  the  court-martial  {consilio  sta(ario)  to  bo 
shot.  The  sentence  was  executed  on  the  same  day,  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m., 
on  the  public  square  of  the  cuttle  market,  outside  of  Porta  Adriana,  in  the 
aforementioned  city  of  Kavenna. 

84.   BAnUFFALDI   LuiGi. 
[Gdzzctta,  &c.,  No.  77,  April  5tli.] 

EoLouNA,  April  5th,  1850. 

Baruffaldi  Luigi,  surnamed  Scivolino,  son  of  Girolamo,  living,  aged  23, 
married,  no  children,  ropemaker  and  fisherman,  of  Keno  Ccntesc,  was 
Bought  after  by  the  police  for  repeated  off'ences,  especially  in  the  lino  of  rob- 
beries committed  by  him  during  the  summer  of  1S49,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Centese.  He  grew  hardened,  and  gave  himself  up  to  the  commission  of 
all  sorts  of  outrages,  and  became  the  fear  and  terror  of  that  neighborhood. 
On  the  24th  day  of  last  February,  armed  with  pistol  and  dagger,  he  fell  in 
with  one  Nicola  Franciosi,  of  Keno  itself,  and  stopped  him  on  tlie  public 
highway ;  he  compelled  him  to  kneel  down  and  stretch  out  his  arms, 
searched  his  person,  and  finding  only  a  few  coppers,  treated  him  with  con- 
tempt, lie  made  him  get  up,  however,  and  went  with  him  to  his  dwelling. 
Here  he  gave  serious  ill  treatment  to  him  and  his  family,  and  left,  taking 
with  him  a  gun  and  some  things  to  eat.  He  was  arrested  on  the  night  of 
26th,  27th  of  February  last,  having  a  gun  and  dagger,  and  was  put  in  juil. 
His  process  having  been  drawn  up  and  laid  before  tlie  court-martial  {gludizio 
statai'io),  he  was  this  day,  April  4th,  condemned  to  be  shot.  The  sentence 
was  executed  to-day,  on  the  meadow  of  Sant'  Antonio,  in  Bologna. 

Bologna,  April  4th,  1850. 

35.  Zappi  Pasquale. — 36.  Folli  Davide. — 37.  Lambeuti  Gil'seppe. — 38. 
PoGGiALi  Antonio. — 39.  Mirri  Innocenzo. — 40.  CascJi.ini  Carlo. — 41. 

CONTAVALLI    GlUSEPPE. 42.    FoLLI    DoMENICO. — 43.    LaMBERTI    LuIGI.— 

44.  Cazziari  Antonio. — 45.  Borghi  Sante. — 46.  Albertazzi  Giuseppe. 
— 47.  Farolfi  Giuseppe. — 48.  Mita  Francesco. — 49.  Meluzzi  Paolo. 

50.  zolli  b.\ttista. 

(Garotti  A,  is  not  found  to  be  among  the  condemned  of  this  period.) 
[Qazzetta,  No.  202,  September  6th.] 

Bologna,  September  (ith,  1850. 
I:aPERtAL  EoTAL  Government,  Military  and  Civil. 

I^otijtcation. 
1.  During  the  night  of  April  20th,  si.x  armed  marauders  forced  open  a 
window  and  burglariously  entered  the  dwelling-house  of  Giovanni  Ser- 
meuglii,  surnamed  Barabaniuo,  situated  in  the  parish  of  Qrtodouico.    Ho 


iM 


580 


APPENDIX. 


was  robbed  of  the  best  ho  had,  to  the  vahic  of  |40  ;  he  was  wounded,  and 
his  daughter,  wife  of  Antonio  Gaiani,  was  violated. 

2.  Iti  the  dusk  of  the  evening  of  July  2Gtli,  1849,  four  armed  marauders 
entered  the  dwelling-house  of  Andrea  Costn,  fanner,  of  Casola  Canina,  and 
took  away  by  violence  a  bale  of  liueia  and  a  trilling  sum  of  money — loss  in 
all  about  $7. 

i5.  Five  robbers,  early  in  the  evening  of  lOth  last  January,  went  to  Orto- 
donioo,  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Antonio  Golinelli,  and,  by  threats  of  arson 
and  murder,  tliey  extorted  from  him  $2.16  in  money. 

4.  Leaving  that  place,  they  went  during  the  same  night  into  the  parish  of 
Poggiolo,  at  the  place  called  Monticino,  and  with  eimilar  threats  of  arson  and 
murder,  they  extorted  from  the  farmer  of  the  place,  Giacomo  Dal  Pozzo, 
$1.03. 

5.  Passing  themselves  off  for  policemen,  nine  vagabonds,  provided  with 
wooden  stakes  and  a  hedging-blade,  went  to  the  dwelling-liouse  of  Antonio 
Contoli,  of  Gaiano,  and  breaking  down  the  door  at  the  entrance,  they  got 
into  the  house,  stealing  money  and  effects  to  the  value  of  $20.  This  bur- 
glary took  place  during  the  night  of  January  20th. 

6.  On  the  evening  of  January  27th,  about  the  time  of  the  Ave  Maria,  a 
gang  of  ten  vagabonds  burglariously  entered  the  dwelling-house  of  the 
farmer  Agostino  Tinti,  in  the  parish  of  Castel  Guelfo,  having  broken  open 
the  door  with  their  clubs ;  and  the  said  Tinti  was  violently  robbed  of  money 
and  clfects  to  the  value  of  $60.47. 

7.  Four  vagabonds,  at  the  liour  of  ten  o'clock  in  the  niglit  of  February 
9th,  went  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Francesco  Castelli,  of  Zello,  and,  with 
threats  of  arson,  they  extorted  from  him  money  to  the  amount  of  $2. 

8.  On  the  10th  of  last  February,  eight  marauders,  bearing  arms,  and  hav- 
ing their  faces  covered  with  handkerchiefs,  breaking  down  the  door,  en- 
tered burglariously  the  dwelling-house  of  farmer  Antonio  Passini,  of  Linaro, 
and  violently  robbed  him  of  money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of  $238. 

0.  During  the  night  of  17th  February  aforesaid,  seven  marauders,  armed 
with  pistols  and  daggers,  entered  the  farmhouse  of  Lorenzo  Gardenghi,  of 
Castel  San  Pietro,  having  opened  the  door  by  violence,  and  robbed  him  of 
money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of  $100. 

10.  About  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night  of  the  said  February  21st,  three 
evil-doers  went  to  the  dwelling  of  Domenico  Savini,  surnamed  Ziona,  of 
Casola  Canina,  and  extorted  from  him,  by  threats  of  arson  and  murder,  $8. 

11.  On  the  evening  of  said  February  23d,  four  malefactors  extorted,  by 
threats  of  arson,  from  Sante  Mongardi,  surnamed  Sulinda,  of  Casola  Canina, 
the  sum  of  $11.25. 

12.  On  the  night  of  last  March  2d,  seven  marauders,  bearing  arms,  went 
to  the  house  of  Giovanni  Dal  Pozzo,  surnamed  Dei  Longoni,  in  Chiusura. 
They  attempted  in  vain  to  open  the  door  of  the  dwelling,  and  were  thus 
unable  to  effect  an  entrance.  They  fired  oft'  their  guns,  however,  and,  by 
threats  of  deatli,  they  extorted  from  Dal  Pozzo  the  sum  of  $10. 

13.  Immediately  afterwards,  going  to  the  house  of  Francesco  Cavina,  like- 
wise of  Chiusura,  by  threats  of  arson,  they  extorted  from  him  the  sum  of 
$10.50. 


)unded,  and 

1  maraudcra 
Canina,  and 
ncy — loss  iu 

vent  to  Orto- 
eats  of  arson 

tho  parish  of 

of  arson  and 

0  Dal  Pozzo, 

irovidcd  with 
36  of  Antonio 
mce,  thoy  got 
0.    This  bur- 

Avc  Maria,  a 
house  of  the 
;  broken  open 
ibcd  of  money 

It  of  February 
iUo,  and,  with 
.  of  $2. 

iruis,  and  hav- 
the  door,  en- 
^ini,  of  Linaro, 
.if  $238. 
iiudcrs,  armed 
iGiirdenghi,  of 
lobbed  him  of 

ry  21st,  three 
led  Ziona,  of 
murder,  $8. 
extorted,  by 

Laaola  Canina, 

Ig  arms,  went 
I,  in  ChiuHura. 
Ind  were  thua 
}ever,  and,  by 

Cavina,  Hke- 
the  Buua  of 


APPENDIX. 


581 


14.  Thirteen  marauders,  furnished  with  all  sorts  of  weapons,  went,  during 
the  night  of  lust  March  10th,  to  tlie  dweliiiig-liouse  of  Sj^rnor  Subastinno 
Fantaguzzi,  of  Kiolo.  Assuming  the  nume  of  \K)Vh:o,  and  disguising  their 
faces,  they  entered  snid  dwelling,  and  robbed  Fantaguzzi  of  money  and  ef- 
fects to  the  amount  of  $00. 

15.  Later  during  tlie  same  niglit,  they  went  to  the  parsonage-house  of 
Ossano,  and  robl:)ed  tlie  parish  priest,  Don  Giorgio  Fautaguzzi,  of  money 
and  effects  to  tiio  value  of  $')0. 

16.  About  midnight  on  last  Marcli  Uth,  eleven  marauders,  bearing  arms, 
opened  by  violence  tho  door  of  the  parish  church  of  Picdevra,  and  after- 
wards that  of  the  Canonical  residence.  Having  their  faces  covered  with 
handkcrehiefs,  and  having  assumed  military  badges,  they  entered  and  rob- 
bed the  arch-priest,  Don  Antonio  Zaccarini,  of  $100. 

17.  On  the  nigiit  of  said  March  27th,  si.\  marauders,  armed  with  guns, 
came  to  tlie  dwelling-house  of  Steplumo  Seravalle,  of  Croee  in  Cainpo,  and 
attempted,  without  success,  to  open  by  violence  the  front  door  and  eft'ect 
an  entrance.  However,  by  threats  of  arson  and  murder,  they  extorted  from 
Seravalle  aforesaid  $1.20. 

18.  Immediately  afterwards  they  passed  to  the  domicil  of  Stcfano  Gam- 
betti,  in  San  Prospero,  and  by  threats  of  arson  they  extorted  from  him  $2.40. 

19.  At  tiie  hour  of  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  last  April  7th,  eleven 
marauders  bearing  arms  broke  down  several  doors  of  the  dwelling-liouse  of 
Antonio  Loiighini,  of  Castel  Gueltb,  burglariously  entered  the  premises  and 
violently  robbed  Longhini  aforesaid  of  money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of 
$82.1)0. 

20.  Five  vagabonds,  about  midnight  of  la,st  April  15th,  came  to  the  house 
of  Paolo  Dal  Monte,  of  Mezzolano,  territory  of  Castel  Bolognese,  attempted 
without  success  to  break  open  the  door,  and  by  threats  of  death  extorted 
from  said  Dul  Monte  $30. 

21.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  of  said  April  ISth,  seven  marauders  came  to 
the  canonical  residence  of  Pcdiano;  the;,  cut  the  ropes  of  tiie  bells,  and 
breaking  down  the  doors  they  entered,  having  tiieir  liices  covered  with 
handkerchiefs.  Thoy  stole  money  and  elfects  to  the  amount  of  $40  and  took 
their  departure,  after  having  forcibly  violated  the  domestic  of  the  parish 
priest,  Signer  Don  Luigi  Mirri. 

22.  Four  marauders,  armed  with  pistols  and  daggers,  went  on  the  evening 
of  said  Ajiril  oOth  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Doincnico  Bassani,  fanner  of 
Mczzolaiio,  and  broke  down  the  front  door  and  ell'cetcd  an  entrance.  Hav- 
ing done  outrageous  violence  to  Bassani  himself,  putting  a  halter  round  hi.s 
ueck,  they  robbed  liim  of  money  and  ell'ccts  to  the  value  of  $oO. 

Sentence  was  pronounced  on  tlie  authors  of  the  foregoing  crimes,  on  tlie 
5th  inst.,  by  the  council  of  war  {conx'ujlio  di  c/uerra),  and  tiie  following  per- 
sons were  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  be  put  to  death  by  being  shot. 

1.  Mondelli  Domenico,  son  of  Lorenzo  deceased,  aged  20,  native  of  San 
Prospero,  residing  in  Ortodonico,  unmarried,  apprentice,  surnamed  Lizziri- 
no,  hitherto  unindicted- 

2.  Zippi  Pasqualc,  son  of  Paolo  deceased,  aged  23,  native  of  Sesto,  re- 


hml 


582 


APPENDIX. 


Biding  in  Ortodonico,  unmarried,  laborer,  Hurnamcd  Btirconcino,  liitlierto 
unindicted. 

8.  Zolli  Bftttistn,  son  of  Simon  living,  ngcd  23,  unmarried,  native  of  San 
Spirito,  residing  at  Croec  in  Campo,  peuHant,  alias  Batistazza,  liithcrto  unin- 
dictetl. 

4.  Lamberti  Giuseppe,  son  '^f' Francesco  living,  aged  22,  native  of  Ortodo- 
nico,  resident  of  San  Spiritu,  umnarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Kavioio  Grande, 
hitlierto  unindicted. 

5.  I'oggiali  Antonio,  sou  of  Prospero  Casadio,  native  and  resident  of  San 
Spirito,  aged  24,  unmarried,  peasant,  suruanied  roggelli,  hitlw;rto  unin- 
dicted. 

6.  Brusa  Giuseppe,  son  of  Giovanni  living,  aged  25,  native  of  San  Pros- 
pero, resident  of  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  servant-man  and  peasant,  surnamed 
11  Bundito,  previously  indicted  for  wounds  inflicted,  and  condenmed  to  jail 
for  five  years. 

7.  Mirri  Innoccnzo,  son  of  Francesco  living,  aged  21,  native  and  resident 
of  San  Spirito,  alias  Moniericco  alias  Prete,  hitlie»to  unindicted. 

8.  Casolini  Carlo,  son  of  Giacomo  living,  aged  28,  native  of  Croce  Coperta, 
residing  in  Ponto  Santo,  unmarried,  working-num,  liitlierto  unindicted. 

9.  Contavalli  Giuseppe,  son  of  Simon,  aged  2o,  native  of  Cantalupo,  resi- 
dent of  Castel  Nuovo,  unmarried,  peasant,  nicknamed  Ca  lunga,  liitlierto 
unindicted. 

10.  Folli  Davide,  son  of  Paolo  living,  aged  24,  native  of  San  Spirito,  resi- 
ding in  Casalecchio,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Gagliazziuo,  hitherto 
unindicted. 

11.  Lamberti  Luigi,  son  of  Francesco  living,  aged  21,  native  of  Ortodonico, 
residing  in  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Kavioio  Piccolo, 
hitherto  riiindicted. 

12.  Cazziari  Antonio,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  18,  native  and  resident; 
of  Casola  Caniua,  unmarried,  shoemaker,  surnamed  Scapuzzo,  hitherto  un- 
indicted. 

13.  Albertazzi  Giuseppe,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  22,  native  and  resi- 
dent of  San  Lorenzo  di  Dozza,  married,  peasant,  surnamed  Faffonc  del  Cas- 
tellazzo,  indicted  heretofore  for  holding  arms. 

14.  Borghi  Sante,  son  of  Luigi  deceased,  aged  83,  native  of  Campiano, 
residing  at  Serra,  unmarried,  peasant,  alias  Dal  Luoghetto,  hitherto  unin- 
dicted. 

15.  Farolfi  Giuseppe,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  23,  native  and  resident 
of  Croce  Coperta,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  11  Frate,  hitherto  unin- 
dicted. 

16.  Mita  Francisco,  son  of  Girolamo  living,  aged  30,  native  and  resident 
of  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  baker,  surnamed  Paradiso,  hitherto  unindicted. 

17.  Meluzxi  Paulo,  son  of  Giuseppe  deceased,  native  of  Giardiiio,  residing 
in  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  Merlone,  hitherto  unindicted. 

18.  Folli  Domenico,  son  of  Simon  living,  native  of  San  Spirito,  resident 
of  Croce  in  Campo,  unmarried,  peasant,  aurnamod  11  fratello  di  Battistazza, 
hitherto  unindicted. 

19.  Luzzi  Lorenzo,  sou  of  Luigi  li\ang,  aged  23,  native  of  Dozza,  resident 


0,  hitherto 

tivo  of  Sun 
lierlo  unin- 

of  Ortodo- 
olo  Gruude, 

denl  of  San 
utrto  uniu- 

[■  San  Pros- 
t,  s  urn  timed 
nncd  to  juil 

nd  resident 

oce  Coperta, 
idicted. 
tiilupo,  resi- 
ga,  liitlierto 

Spirito,  resi- 
no,  hitherto 

Ortodonico, 
olo  I'iccolo, 

md  resident 
itherto  uu- 

ve  and  resi- 
uic  del  Cas- 

Cumpiano, 
lierto  unin- 

Ind  resident 
liurto  unin- 

lid  resident 
liindietcd. 
lo,  residing 
Inindicted. 
Lo,  resident 
Jattistazza, 

ta,  resident 


APPENDIX. 


6S3 


of  Linnro,  unninrricd,  laborer,  surnanicd  11  Rosso  di  Linaro,  hitherto  indict- 
ed for  lnrceny. 

20.  Tu/.zi  Paolo,  son  of  Battista  living,  aged  21,  native  of  Dozzn,  living  in 
Dozzii,  unmarried,  pca-^ant,  siiruamed  Uui  Torteili,  hitlKMto  unindieted. 

21.  Moiiteveculiio  (Jai-tano,  son  of  Bartolommco,  aged  18,  native  of  Casola 
Caiiina,  resident  of  Bubauo,  unuuirried,  laborer,  surnamcd  11  figlio  di  Zar- 
dono,  lieretofurii  imrK'lcd  for  liolding  arms. 

22.  Lanzoni  (iiusuppe,  son  of  I'ietro  livimr,  aged  22,  native  and  resident 
of  Bubano,  nuirried,  coachman,  alias  11  Bologneso  alias  11  Brigantc,  hitherto 
nnindiuted. 

2=$.  Bultnuni  Domcnieo,  son  of  Giuseppe  living,  aged  21,  native  of  Dozza, 
resident  of  Imola,  unmarried,  porter,  alias  Liscino  aliiw  11  liglio  di  Giubafelto 
lungo,  hitherto  unindictcd. 

24.  Zauuni  Luigi,  son  of  Giusoppe  living,  aged  21,  native  and  resident  of 
Castel  Bolognese,  umnarried,  laborer,  surnamed  Delia  Lolla,  heretofore  un- 
indicted. 

25.  Kossini  Gi'.iseppe,  son  of  Domenieo  Antonio  living,  aged  83,  native  of 
Sant'  Andrea,  resident  of  Felisio,  married,  trader  in  hogs,  surnamed  Luma- 
ca,  hitherto  uniudieted. 

2(3.  Minghetti  Antonio,  son  -"f  Giuseppe  living,  aged  22,  native  of  Zello, 
resident  of  Borello  near  Castel  Bologneoe,  peasant,  unmarried,  Burnamed 
Cas&inettu,  hitherto  uniudieted. 

The  following  persons  wero  judged  and  condemned  as  equally  guilty: 

27.  Alboui  Sebastiano,  so'-'  of  Giuseppe  living,  aged  33,  native  of  Casola 
Canina,  bricklayer,  suriuuvl  Figlio  di  Preseiutto,  resident  of  Imola,  indict- 
ed for  robbery,  was  eonv-ftcc'  of  public  violence  and  extortion  of  money, 
but  only  by  circuinstantir'.i  evidence,  and  hence  condemned  to  five  years  of 
imprisonment. 

28.  Martelli  Pietro,  sen  of  Vincenzo,  aged  2o,  native  of  Caccianello,  resi- 
dent of  Sat!  Spirito,  i".i>.rried,  laborer,  surnamed  Cicala,  heretofore  unin- 
dictcd, was  convicted  M'  public  violence  and  extortion  of  money,  but  only 
by  circumstantial  ev'i'jnce,  and  hcneo  was  condenmed  to  five  years'  im- 
prisonment. 

20.  Dal  Pozzo  V'li  3enzo,  son  of  Domcnieo,  deceased,  aged  37,  native  of 
Piedcvra,  residen*-  rf  Imola,  married,  has  children,  country  agent,  surmnned 
11  fattore  Zaelia,  hitherto  uniudieted,  stands  confessed  of  public  violcnco 
for  tlie  purpt^so  of  extorting  money.  Condemned  to  three  years  on  Iho 
public  works. 

30.  Manarii'  Giovanni,  son  of  Giuseppe,  living,  aged  18,  native  and  resi- 
dent of  To>'!i'nella,  hitherto  nnind'eted,  convicted  Ijy  circumstantial  evi- 
dence of  t''.*^.  robbery  on  Antonio  Longhini,  condenmed  lo  ten  years  of 
imprisoiuiifnt. 

31.  Pa'tuelli  Giovanni,  son  of  Domenieo,  living,  aged  25,  native  of  Pira^ 
tello,  resident  of  Borgo  Appio  d' Imola,  unmarrieJ,  laijorer,  surnamed  Mer* 
lotto,  hitherto  uniudieted,  convicted  by  circumstantial  evidence  of  the  rob- 
bery on  Antonio  Contoli,  condenmed  to  ten  years'  imprisonment. 


ill 


!i-. 


584 


AITKNUIX. 


82.  Vcsplj.'iiiiiii  Franccsoo,  son  of  I'ictro  of  Iliolo,  ilccoased,  ngcd  13,  Bur- 
naniod  Mnttiolino,  liithcrto  miindictod,  confcsaod  to  tlio  robbery  on  Do- 
menioo  BiHsuiii,  Hciitcncod  to  bo  ko[it  Ibr  thrco  years  In  a  hotiso  of  cor- 
rection, 

88.  Dull  'Osso  Doineiiifo,  tson  of  (Jiiiscppc,  deceased,  n{,'ed  44,  native  of 
Minaro,  resident  of  Orlodoniuo,  married,  sunmined  Minj^ono  dcila  I'alazza, 
hitherto  unindietcd,  convicted  l)y  cireiunslantial  evidence  of  lioldinir  and 
possessiMj;  arms,  confessed  to  trailini?  in  stolon  goods,  condemned  to  three 
years  on  tlic  pni)lie  works. 

84.  San^'iorgi  Ciiiiscppe,  son  of  Vinccnzo,  livinff,  aged  22,  mimarried,  na- 
tive and  resident  of  Kiolo,  iiaekdrlvcr,  siirnamcd  Fittonu,  heretofore  indicted 
for  roijbery  and  intlicting  wounds;  and, 

35.  Zaccarini  Domenico,  son  of  Luigi,  living,  aged  33,  native  and  resident 
of  Kiolo,  married,  cartman,  surnameil  II  Mantovano,  heretofore  condemned 
for  larceny  to  tifteen  days  of  imprisonment  and  one  year  on  the  publio 
works. 

The  two  last  wore  legally  indicted  for  tlie  robbery  oa  Domenico  Bassani, 
but  the  proofs  being  insullieient  for  thoir  condemnation,  the  proceedings 
will  bo  stayed  in  botli  their  cases. 

Ilis  Excellency  Lieutenant  Marshal,  Governor,  Military  and  Civil,  of  Bo- 
logna, taking  into  consideration  the  youthful  age  of  some  of  those  con- 
denmed  to  death,  the  confession  made  l>y  them,  the  real  advantages  resulting 
therefrom  to  the  puljlic  safety;  and  again,  in  the  case  of  some,  the  secondary 
part  which  tiiey  bore  in  committing  the  abovcmentioned  crimes,  has  granted 
a  commutation  of  the  sentence  of  tleath  in  favor  of  the  following  indi- 
viduals : 

1.  Mondelli  Domenico,  to  twenty  years  of  imprisonment. 

2.  FoUi  Domenico,  to  tifteen 

3.  Luzzi  J.orenzo,  to  liftccn  • 

4.  Tozzi  Paolo, 
;').  Montcvccehi  Gactano, 

6.  l.anzoni  Giuseppe, 

7.  Beltrami  Domenico, 

8.  Zannoni  Luigi, 
'J,  Minghetti  Antonio, 

10.  Kossiiii  Giuseppe, 


u 


■  to  ten  years  of  imprisonment. 


OFFICIAL  LETTER  WRITTEN  BY  MONSEIGNEUR  BEDINI,  THE 
DAY  AFTER  UGO  BASSES  EXECUTION, 

To  the  Commission  of  three  Cardinals  named  hy  the  Pope  to  gowi  n  during  his 

absence. 

MoFT  Eminent  Lords  : 

As  I  have  already  informed  your  Eminences,  the  noted  Ugo  Bassi  was  ar 
rested  in  the  Bosco  Eliseo,  in  tlie  territory  of  Ferrara,  and  brought  hera 
with  the  other  prisoners  of  Garibaldi's  band,  whose  destination  is  Mantua. 


c(l  13,  Hur- 
ry on  Do- 
jse  of  cor- 

,  native  of 
Uti  I'alnzza, 
oKliii?  and 
ocl  to  three 

lurried,  iiii- 
)ro  indicted 

nd  resident 

condemned 

tlio  public 

ico  BiiPSHnl, 
proccedin^rt 

'ivil,  of  Bo- 
[■  tliOHO  con- 
fcs  rcsultinji 
10  secondary 
irts  granted 
owing  indi- 


)INI,  THK 
during  his 


lissi  was  ar 
)uglit  hera 
1  is  Mantua. 


APFEN'r)IX. 


6S5 


1 


I  now  Icnrn  tliut,  nt  tiio  instant  of  his  arrest,  BuHsi  waj*  asked  his  rani<,  and 
replied  that  liu  was  an  olliccr  in  Garibaldi's  service;  and,  in  fact,  ho  was  in 
nrniH  wlien  taken. 

The  conscfiucnce  of  this  waf<,  thnt,  in  accordance  with  the  Ifjijfi  uliitarin, 
ho  was  sentenced  and  shot  (paimto  per  h  arini)  along  with  an  Austrian 
deserter,  tlio  olllciul  gazeUo  annuuncing  him  merely  as  "tlio  note.l  Ugo 
Bassi."  Neither  I  nor  Ills  Kminonce  the  arclihishnp,  ii])on  wliom  I  liavo 
just  called,  received  the  slightest  intimation  tliat  tiiis  execution  was  to  tako 
place;  of  wliicli  eircutnstances  1  inform  your  Emiiifnces,  as  in  duty  bound, 
to  forestall  any  reproach. 

I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

G.  Bkuim, 
Pontifical  Conunissarv  Extraordinary. 
Bologna,  August  9th,  1849. 


LETTERS  OF  THE  CHAPLAIN  WHO  ATTENDED  PATIIEU  BASSL 

Santa  Mauia  della  Cauita,         \ 
Ji'iilogna,  August  8,  1849.  ) 
Your  Eminence  : 

Summoned  at  three-quarters  past  ten  by  a  police  agent  to  proceed  with 
another  priest,  at  eleven  o'clock  on  that  day,  to  the  Villa  Spada,  to  assist 
two  men  whose  names  were  not  given,*  and  who  were  to  umlergo  the  pen- 
alty of  death  thnt  day,  I  was  compelled  to  refuse,  in  conaQquence  of  the 
Oflico  in  the  church  and  the  Mass  to  bo  chanted  at  the  very  hour  of 
eleven.  To  provide  at  tlie  moment  lor  the  pressing  demand,  1  requested,  by 
virtue  of  the  power  given  nie  by  your  Eminence  on  tho  7tli  of  June,  the 
Kcv.  Ludovieo  I'aolo  Casali,  and  my  chaplain,  Cajutan  Baccolini,  who  readily 
undertook  it,  confident  that  1  would  relieve  them,  as  I  proposed,  at  mid- 
day. 

They  were  conducted  at  eleven  to  the  Villa  Spada  in  n  carriage,  and  re- 
mained unemployed  till  noon.  At  twelve  they  were  introduced  into  the 
solitary  chamber,  in  which  were  detained  Father  Ugo  Rnssi,  a  Barnabite,  and 
Giovanni  Livraghi,  of  the  district  Varese,  province  of  Milan,  brother  of  tho 
parish  priest  of  Montunato.  Tho  priests  above  named  soon  influenced  tho 
condemned  to  approach  sacramental  confession  with  resignation  and  truly 
Christian  sentiments.  Both  received  all  the  comforts  of  religion  possible  in 
such  an  urgent  hasto,  evincing  their  earnest  desire  to  receive  sacramental 
communion.  Edifying  indeed,  your  Eminence,  was  the  deportment  of  both, 
and  the  heroic  resignation  of  Father  Bassi  deserves  especial  remembrance. 


•  The  note  ran  . 

"You  win  please  send  at  eleven  o'clock  two  priests  to  the  Villa  Spada,  to  assist  two, 
who  are  to  sutiftT  the  penalty  of  death  to-day."" 

ci-Ht 


11 


t 


ill 


586 


APPENDIX. 


To  lii«  MiiiopfP  rrpoiitaiK'o  ho  ii'MiuI  tlic  ni(>r<t  cnriHid  rntnictdtion,  wliicli  h« 
would  liavc  put  ill  vvritiiiif,  hiul  it  been  permitted  liim.  IIo  cluirtfod  tlio 
prie;*t  BiK'oolini,  and  it,  wim  also  liciifd  iiy  tlio  SiiriMr  (';if«ali,  wlio  wai*  prcrt- 
cut,  to  Mi;il<o  it  Iniowii  to  c\cr\  Itoily,  ai'.d  al:«o  to  rcciui'st  tlic  I'liflicr  IVoviii- 
c'ial,  I).  I'aolo  Vi'iiturini,  Id  liavo  it  inserted  in  tlu)  pii[iurt*,  I'T  tim  iiul)lio 
editinitioh  and  lii.>*  own  .justilioatioii,  'I'lio  followinif  wordn  were  pcnnitlod, 
l>y  tile  slinrtnoss  tif  tiie  tiiiK' :  "  II' tliiTo  is  ever  Cnuiid,  in  aiiv  wriiiiiir  of 
tiiiiio,  a  word,  jM-oposition,  or  m:i\iin  whati'vcr,  oH'oiisivc  to  picfv,  prnpiicty, 
roli^'ion,  I  Inti'iid  ami  wixli  it  retrncliul  in  tlio  nio.Ht  ()()r<itive  and  olllcaeiuuu 
tnanner ;  and  ho,  too,  I  iiilcml  of  any  word  or  npeecli  inadi-  in  public  or  jiri- 
vnte,  wisliinjr  to  repair  any  .-icaiKlai,  and  aid  tlu)  spiritual  food  of  ail ;  1)0- 
eaiiso  1  wisli  and  desire  to  die  as  a  true  Koniaii  Calliolie,  I  eoniiiuMid  niy- 
heit'  to  my  belmed  brethren  of  my  order,  my  family,  ami  ail  j/ood  men;" 
nnd  lie  ordered  to  he  expcndefl  in  Ma>f«es  the  ten  ncudi  wliieli  lie  had  ;  two 
of  wliieh  lie  1,'ave  to  tlie  priest  Baceolini  for  Masses,  and  tlie  otlicr  eii'lit,  wliieh 
ho  thou!,'lit  mitflil  he  money  smit  him  ye^terday  by  his  sister,  and  now  in 
the  hands  of  tlie  Austrian  Aiwlitor,  and  whieli  ho  will  deposit  in  tho  polico- 
otllee,  wlieii  drawn  by  tlie  said  priest,  should  i)e  triven  lialf  to  the  Saerlsly  of 
Santa  Maria  dellu  Carita,  and  half  to  the  liurnabite  Fatiiers,  fur  Masses  as 
above. 

In  thifl  rosiirnation  he  remained  till  one  ft'eloek  in  the  afternoon,  when 
tho  condemned  were  brou<fht  near  the  porticoes  of  the  Certosa  and  shot, 
constantly  attended  by  the  aboveuamed  j>riests,  who  t'urthermore  testify 
that  they  heartl  from  the  lips  of  Fatlier  Hassi  the  followim,'  expressions:  "  I 
bejj  i)ardon  of  all,  I  pardon  all.  1  ur'.'e  all  to  be  faithi'd  to  reliudon,  nnd  I  re- 
joice to  be  able  to  die  under  the  patroiia,!,'o  of  the  Blessed  Vir^'in  of  San 
Luca." 

This  I  now,  in  all  spiritual  joy,  eonnniinicaio  to  your  Kminonco,  ntul,  with 
tho  assistant  priests  who  sign  witli  me,  kiss  the  sacred  purple,  nnd  declare 
ourselves 

Voiir  Eminence's  most  humble  servants, 

AoosTiNo  Kkci,  Pdi'iKu  Prient. 
Don  LnioVK')  I'aiilo  Casali. 
iJoN  Galtano  Baccolini. 

To  his  Eminence,  the  Mos^ 

Rev,  Cardinal  Chakles  Oppizoni, 

Ai'clihishop  of  Bologna. 


BoLooNA,  Santa  Maria  della  Carita,  ) 
Avgunt  8,  1849.  f 

fllosT  REVEnr-Nr  P.  ■'her  Superior: 

I  hasten  to  fulfil  a  o.vt  moiM-nful  duty,  by  informing  your  Reverence  of 
the  recent  death  :f  y.i  '".ilow-rcligious,  Father  Uiro  Bassi,  who,  as  you 
will  see  by  the  giu'd.-i  .•.  Uiis  city,  was  shot  at  twelve  o'clock  to-day.  I 
cannot  sufficiently  praisi    t  le  p!,tieiice  ai.d  .■r'si^':nation  witli  wliieh,  in  tho 


wlilcli  ho 
irtfcd  tlio 
ivui*  prcrt- 
r  I'rovin- 
lll!   piit)lio 
icrinitloil, 
.vriiliiir  of 
liri'iiiii'ty, 
I'lliciK-'ioim 
ilio  or  iiri- 
il"  nil;  be- 
lUMul  iiiy- 
[)tl  iiu'ii ;" 
liud  ;  two 
'ht,  whiuli 
id  now  ill 
tlio  policc- 
^iicriBly  of 
Masses  lis 

0011,  wlieii 
uiul  siiot, 
iro  testify 
isioiis :  "  I 
ami  1  re- 
fill of  Sua 

uul,  with 
(1  docluro 


Pried. 
'asali. 


i\. 


.RITA 


lirence  of 

na  you 

i)-day.    I 

li,  in  tho 


APPENDIX. 


fi87 


nhort  time  nllowcd  him,  he  prep  iiv  1  for  dcnth  ;  and  f  can  'n  ixll  tmth  and 
•iiiufrity  iiK^urc  yoii  that  liu  ftiltlllod  nil  (Ke  duties  of  rclit;ioii,  iw^^i'ii;  • 
pood  '^(infcssioii,  niid  rcculvii)i(  hII  oilior  Kpinti.-il  comfortM  poi»sil>l«,  in  >ucli  t 
•lioit  iiivl  nu'liinclioly  re-p.te,  witli  sciitiinuiits  of  the  hiKhfst  and  miohI  exem- 
pl:ir\  odillctition.  Fiitiior  Biu>»i  espeeiidly  <.liuixud  tliocousv.ionooot'the  under- 
Bi>;nod  his  ooiifossor,  to  asmiro  tho  V«ry  Kov.  Father  Proviiieiul,  D.  Puolo  Von  - 
turiiil,  cr  Ills  reprcsoiitfttlve,  ns  he  was  ftb»ciit  from  Bolosfiui,  ot'tlie  niucority 
of  li'-  «oi.'iiiH'iUs,  and  to  (K'clarc  tliat  ho  iiover  took  any  pail  in  tho  roMuir- 
lO*  .1.:.  iii'i 'dors,  even  of  these  latest  times;  but  tliiit,  an  far  us  ho  eonld,  lio 
hnJ  BOuglit  to  prevent  all  possilih;  injury;  and  that  lio  Ciirnestly  de^ircJ 
tlui*  tliJH  U'^li  the  Fatlier  Provincial,  or  some  otlKsr,  tlie'c  slionld  ho  piililislied 
in  tiie  public  papurs  his  most  clear  and  solemn  retrnctation,  hcsceehiiijr  the 
Fatlur  I'ruvincial  himself  to  declare  as  follows  to  all.  These  arc  Father 
Bad-i'»  own  words:  "  If  there  is  ever  found  in  any  writing  of  iniiio,  any 
w.  r<i,  proposition,  or  maxim  whatever,  otf.'tisivc  to  piety,  propriety,  ndiyiou, 
I  inteiul  and  wish  it  lelractcd  in  tiio  most  positive  and  ulllcacinus  inain  r; 
Rnd  «o,  too,  I  intend  of  any  word  or  speech  made  in  imhlic  or  priv.te; 
wishiiij,'  to  repair  every  scandal  I  may  have  niveii,  and  aid  in  the  spiriu.al 
good  of  all,  becauise  I  desire  and  wi.-^li  to  ilie  a  true  IJoniaii  (,'atholic."  Ifo 
commended  himself  to  his  beloved  brethren  of  his  reli>fious  order,  to  liiiJ 
relatives  and  all  good  men,  and  directed  that  ten  scudi,  that  ho  had,  bo  ex 
pended  in  tifty  iNhisses  tor  the  repose  of  his  soul,  and  that  of  liis  father,  and 
of  his  comrade,  (.'a))tain  Giovanni  Livraglii. 

Before  givimr  up  \\\^  f*ouI  to  God,  on  arriving  at  the  place  of  execution,  ho 
repeated  the  following  expressions,  fixing  his  eyes  on  the  sanctuary  of  San 
Lnca,  which  he  coniinually  regarded  :  "  1  l)('g  jmrdoii  of  all,  1  i)ardon  all. 
I  recommend  lii.lelity  to  religion,  and  rejoice  to  bo  able  to  expire  in  peace, 
under  the  jirotoction  of  tho  Ulessod  Virgin  of  San  Lr.ea."  It  was  his  wish 
to  put  in  writing  u  more  extended  retractation,  l)iit  pai)er  was  refused  him. 
lie,  however,  ratified  what  he  said  in  presence  of  two  priests,  most  worthy 
of  all  crcilit.  All  this  1  have  already  written  to  tho  most  eminent  Cardinal- 
iirchbisliop,  to  whom  1  showed  tlie  propriety,  utility,  and  neoes.sity  of  giving 
it  pu))lie  notice,  for  the  example  of  all,  and  in  liappy  memory  of  him  wlio 
wished  to  end  his  life  in  such  full  sentiments  of  religion. 

In  mo  you  will  ev  r  find,  as  in  tho  confessor  of  tho  deceased  and  iho  as- 
sistant priest,  a  true  and  devoted  servant. 

Your  humble  servants, 

Agosti.no  Ricci,  Parish  Priest. 

D.  LuDovico  Paolo  Casali. 

D.  Gaetano  Baccoum,  Confea«or. 

To  tho  Very  Rev.  Father 

Al£s»andso  Maori, 

Superior  of  the  Barnabitta 

at  Santa  Lucia,  Bologna. 


■ 


588 


Ari'ENDIX. 


RESCRIPT  OF  iMONSlGNOKE  GAETANO  BEDINI, 

Commissan/  Exlraordinar;/  of  the  Punr  Lrrjatiom,  and  Pro-Legate  of  Bologna, 
endor.mi  on  the  request  to  insert  in  the  (xcizzetta  of  Bologna  the  Eetractalion  of 
Falher  Ugo  Bcissi,  a  Barnabite,  shot  on  the  Sth  of  Aitgmt,  18-49. 

Tlio  letter  of  the  pastor  of  La  Caritu  nuiy  bo  published  on  obtaining  the 
consent  of  the  Austrian  niilitarj-  authority,  ■which  is  actually  invested  with 
extraordinary  powers  in  the  Four  Legations,  and  which  principally,  or  rather 
exclusively  has  been  judge  in  this  case. 

G.  Bedim. 


LETTER  OF  THE  SUPERIOR  OF  THE  BARNABITES. 

BoLOGXA,  August  12,  18-1'J. 
Eev.  Sm 

I  regret  to  inform  you  that,  in  spite  of  all  my  endeavors  to  insert  in  tiie 
Gazzetta  of  Bologna  the  account  of  the  editying  death  of  Father  Bassi,  I 
have  not  yet  succeeded.  His  Eminence  and  RIonsitrnor  Bedini  consent,  and 
desire  that  it  may  be  made  public ;  but  tiie  political  censor,  Monsignor 
Gariibcrini,  docs  not  thiidc  himself  at  liberty  to  allow  its  appearance,  es- 
pecially in  the  Gazzclta.  witiiout  an  explicit  approvnl  of  the  authoi'itics,  as 
lie  states  in  writing,  alid  with  more  clearnc>s  in  words,  without  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Austrian  police,  ■which  lie  foresees  will  easily  bo  obtained. 
To-morrow,  however,  tiie  said  Monsignor  Gamberini  will  have  an  interview 
with  the  Commissary  Plvtraordinary  of  these  four  jirovinces,  Monsignor 
Bedini ;  but  1  foresee  that  they  will  come  to  no  definite  conclusion.  If  you 
Bee  any  means  of  attaining  our  end,  you  will  confer  a  great  favor  on  me  by 
letting  me  know. 

In  tlie  mean  time,  I  take  tliis  opportunity  to  express  for  myself  and  all  my 
fellow-religious,  the  sentiments  of  our  lively  gratitude  for  the  touching  proof 
of  zeal  given  by  you  in  all  that  concerns  the  honor  and  name  of  our  poor 
Father  Bassi  and  us  his  fellow-religion= 

In  these  unalterable  sentiments,  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself. 
Your  Reverence's 

Most  humble  servant, 

D.  Alessandro  Maori, 

Suverior  of  Sta.  Lucia. 

To  the  Eev.  AooaTiNO  Ricci, 

Pattor  of  Sta,  Maria  della  Carita, 


)/■  Bologna, 
nidation  of 


aining  the 
ested  with 
>',  or  rather 

.  Bedini. 


ES. 
12,  1849. 

isert  in  tlie 
iier  Bassi,  I 
on  sent,  unci 
Monsi!^'nor 
rauce,  os- 
ni'ities,  as 
he  appro- 
obtained, 
interview 
Monsiirnor 
n.     If  you 
on  me  by 

and  all  my 
?liing  proof 
if  our  poor 


myself, 


1", 


Sta.  Lucia. 


APPENDIX.  689 


EEMARKS  OF  THE  EDITOR. 

These  documents  reached  Mr.  de  Courcy  just  on  tlie  eve  of  his  departure, 
and  he  alludes  briefly  to  lliem  in  his  cijapter  on  the  Nunciature.  To  any 
impartial  reader  they  sliow, 

1.  That  the  Austrians  held  Bologna  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  that  Monsignor 
Bedini  had  really  no  power  in  Bologna.* 

2.  That  the  fifty  men  sliot  were  mostly  banditti,  condemned  for  robbery, 
murder,  rape,  &c.,  and  consequently  no  martyra  to  the  cause  of  liberty. 

3.  That  Father  Bassi  and  his  companion  were  taken  as  officers  of  Garibal- 
di's corps,  and  as  such  shot. 

4.  That  Father  Bassi's  execution  was  done  in  great  haste  and  privacy, 
without  the  knowledge  of  Cardinal  Oppizoni  or  Monsignor  Bedini. 

5.  That  Bassi  never  was  degraded,  consequently  did  not  undergo  the 
flight  scraping  of  the  thumb  and  finger;  and  that  to  represent  him  and  the 
forty-nine  others  as  being  fiayed  alive  !  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the 
principle  of  the  story  of  the  "Three  Black  Crows." 

C.  That  Baasi  died  a  Christian,  repenting  his  unpriestly  conduct,  retracting 
all  that  he  said  against  Catholic  faith. 

7.  That  Monsignor  Bedini,  Cardinal  Oppizoni,  and  the  Superior  of  the 
Barnabites,  endeavored,  but  in  vaiu,  to  have  the  retractation  of  Father  Bassi 
published. 


♦  Extract  from  a  Note  presented  by  the  Sardinian  Plenipotentiaries,  Cavour  and 
Villamarina,  to  the  French  and  English  Ministers  at  the  Peace  Congress. 

"  The  Legations  have  been  occupied  by  Au-trian  troops  since  1849.  Tlie  state  of 
siege  and  martial  law  have  been  in  vigor  since  that  time,  without  interruption.  The 
Pontifical  government  onlt/ ccrists  in  name,  since  above  its  legates  an  Aitstrian 
general  takes  the  tit's  and  exercises  the  functions  of  civil  and  military  governor. 

"  Pabis,  March  27th,  1856." 


1'^ 


I '. '  i'i 


J 


1!; 


590  APPEXDIX. 


VI. 


DOCUMENTS  KELATING  TO  MONSIGNOR  BEDINFS  MISSION 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

[copy.] 

Legation  des  Etats-Unis  d'Asierique,  ) 
Rome^  le  19  Mars^  1853.  ) 

Le  flou?8ign^,Charg^  d'Affaires  dcs  Etats-Unis  d'Anieriqiic,  a  Thonnenr 
d'aceuser  reception  ^  la  communication  du  17  Mars  de  Son  Eminence  Kme. 
Ic  Cardinal  Secretaire  d'Etat,  qui  lui  annonce  le  prochain  depart  do  Moa- 
seigneiir  Bedini,  Arehcv^cjue  de  Thebes,  et  Nonce  Apostolique  pres  la  Cour 
Imperiale  du  Brt'sil,  oliarge  d'une  mission  complimentaire  aupres  du  Presi- 
dent dcs  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique.  Le  soussigne  a  re^u  cette  intelligence 
avcc  ic  plus  vif  inter^t  et  il  s'cmpresscra  de  la  cominuniquer  a  son  gouver- 
nement.  Assurant  d'avance  Sou  Eminence  Rme.  de  la  reception  cordialo 
que  Monseigncur  Bedini  regevra  de  son  gouvernement,  ct  de  Textr^mo 
pluisir  qu'eprouvera  le  President  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique  de  cette  favo- 
rable marque  des  sentimens  du  Saint  Pere,  il  profit  de  cette  occasion  pour 
lui  tdmoigner  I'expression  de  sa  plus  haute  consideration. 

(Signe)  Cass. 

A  Son  Eminence  lime. 

Le  Cardinal  Antonelli, 

Secretaire  d'Etat. 


[Copy.— No.  55.] 

Legation  of  the  United  States,  I 
Rorne^  March  20,  1853.  ) 

Hon.  Edward  Everett, 

Secretary  of  StaU . 

Sib: 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  trnnalation  of  a  comnnmication 
wljich  I  have  just  received  from  Cardinal  Antonelli,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  reverend  gentleman,  Monseigneur  Bedini,  therein  mentioned,  is  a 
prelate  of  high  standing  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  distinguished  for  his 
learning  and  attainments.  He  has  filled  several  important  posts  in  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  departments  of  this  government  under  the  present  Pope, 
as  well  as  his  predecessor,  Gregory  thj  Sixteenth.  His  oflicial  designation 
is  Monseigneur  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  and  Apostolic-nuncio  to  the 
Court  of  the  Brazils. 

The  mission  thus  conferred  upon  him  is  a  new  and  additional  testimonial 


'U'l 


[ISSION 


;rique,  I 

rhonneur 
lence  Kine. 
•t  do  Moii- 
•(J6  111  (Jour 
»  dn  I'l'c'rti- 
iitellisenco 
Dii  gouver- 
011  cordiiilo 
!  Textr^mo 

cctte  tiivo- 
!Usion  pour 

1  CaS3. 


TATE8 


unication 
tato. 

ned,  i»  a 
d  for  his 
1  the  civil 
ent  Popo, 
isignation 
;io  to  the 

iBtimoniol 


APPENDIX. 


591 


of  the  highly  favorable  and  friendly  sentiments  entertained  by  His  Holiness 
Pins  IX.  towards  the  government  and  institutions  of  the  United  States. 
Monseigneur  Bedini  will  probably  arrive  in  Washington  within  eight  or  ten 
days  subsequent  to  the  receipt  of  this  dispatch.  He  will  remain  there,  I 
understand,  but  a  few  days. 

I  am.  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  Lewis  Cass. 


THE    BSD. 


MWietli 


Mom  1  K<.-,*aL, 


